All too often, among those who believe they possess spiritual truth, arises arrogance, bigotry, and spiritual blindness, all offspring of pride. Sure, the Jews of Jesus' day suffered from this disease, but so have many, many other religions in the world.

Those who do not believe in, or those who reject The One True Religion, are dogs deserving nothing but contempt or death. Lost are any feelings of friendship, kindness, or compassion. Most, if not all, of Israel suffered from this unfortunate side-effect of possessing the Truth about God. It occurs mainly among those who do not Love God First or do not Love Others as Themselves.

Of course, Jesus, light-years beyond the mental midgets (children, really), that he had to deal with every day, did not support racism or bigotry or religious or social intolerance. To him, everyone he met was a potential member of his Kingdom, a value too great to pass by.

The "Dogs" the Jews despised, even though they misunderstood the Truth About God, were far more open to understanding it than those the Truth was originally given to.

So it is today, some of the people of the world, the drinkers, the smokers, the dopers, the homosexuals, etc. can have more compassion and generosity and love than those who have gone to church all of their lives. The real dopers and drunks are some of those sitting in the pews, stoned into unconsciousness by their misunderstanding or rejection of the basic principles of True Christianity.

Maybe they just avoid people of the world by surrounding themselves with others like themselves, or maybe they take the KJV Bible and beat people over the head with it, or wish they could.

How many feeble excuses or diversions could we think up if we stood before Jesus and he read our minds, just like he did with the Samaritan Dog-Woman? He wants to give us the Water of Life, whatever that is. Without it, we cannot join his Kingdom.

Praise God!

When I was a young man I was a coleporter and sold the Bible Story Books by A. Maxwell and such.

The book I pushed the most as a christian salesman to adults that I was canvassing was The Desire of Ages.
And to demo the Book I would turn to this very chapter Every Single Time. I loved this chapter. Showed everyone I talked to about spirirtual things. I love the longing she has for spiritual things not really realizing it. She was an outcast to her own people and in everyones eye including probly her own family she has left God cause of her lifestyle choices. Yet..




Yet Christ Knew her and thirsted to share with her HIM!

Praise GOD!

I just got nailed in the thread discussing Narnia and the Simpsons as a drawing card to bring youth into church. Maybe I can learn something from that experience. I probably should just be quiet for a while.

There are those reading this who are more qualified to post their ideas on the life of Christ than I am. So, I will take a break, and stay away from adventistforum for a season. I must say, I have learned a lot from studying DA, but somehow, I have to learn tact, a problem I encounter at home, also.

It's been a privilege meeting those of you who have posted.

Thank you for your comments above, G4J. You never know who might pick up one of those books you sold and have their life transformed.


One of the lessons of this encounter of Jesus with the dog-woman is that true worship can occur anywhere, not just in holy places, temples, or churches. The external ceremonies and rituals do not of themselves lead to God. One must be born of Spirit, for this alone can purify our thoughts and enable us to know and love God better.

In fact, the external ceremonies and rituals of public worship may interfere with our connecting with God because of all of the distractions. Not that someone couldn't meet with God in church. Even there, God will reveal himself to anyone reaching out to him.

Jesus knew the details of her sinful life, yet he still loved her, and she knew it. He didn't denounce her evil acts, even the REALLY bad things like wearing earrings in church, etc. Skillfully, he made the eternal light shine into her darkened mind, giving her hope of a better life, on Earth, and in the next life. Her friends and acquaintances couldn't help but notice the transformation of her attitude.

Jesus already knew she would immediately go to her Samaritan dog-people and share her newfound faith with anyone who would listen. In her joy, she forgot her water jar and went back to the city.

If we met people during their activities of daily life, or even went door to door, we might encounter someone thirsting for the Water of Life, just as Jesus did. To share it though, we must have it. Jesus’ disciples were completely oblivious as to what had just happened. They could have done nothing to help this woman, much less change her life, or her friends and acquaintances.

We can sit in the pews and be like the disciples, completely oblivious to the needs of people around us. They may be dying, and we’d never know it, or miss them next Sabbath.

We need to fight for the Water of Life as if our lives depended on it, which they do.

The Pharisees, thinking themselves the elect of God, despised Jesus because of his simplicity. While ignoring his miracles, they continually demanded signs that he was the Son of God, because they didn't believe.

Yet, the Samaritan Dog-People demanded no sign from him to prove his claim. The dog-woman's claim that he read her mind was enough proof to them. These people, unpolluted by the tainted beliefs of the Keepers of Religion of Israel, were delighted to meet Jesus and listened to him with hearts wide open.

Although Jesus' disciples were still suffering from bigotry, this encounter was designed to be a blessing to them. This was the first indication that Jesus' Kingdom was open to the entire world. Their hatred and contempt of this bastard people must be replaced with kindness and sympathy. In fact, only after Jesus left this world did they recall how tender he was towards these humans so despised by the Great Keepers of False Religion.

As soon as she realized Jesus was the Messiah, she went to her people to share her excitement, then bring others to meet him. Where the disciples saw a nation of heathens and idol worshippers and outright enemies, Jesus saw a rich harvest of souls for his Kingdom. The dog-woman was a far better missionary than his still-tainted disciples. Through the efforts of one dog-woman, an entire city listened to the teachings of Jesus as he walked and lived among them.

When we receive the Living Water, we too must share it with others. Not the Right Religion stuff, but the hope everyone who believes and follows Jesus have.

It was the Holy Spirit that enabled Jesus to know the thoughts of others, that is, to read their minds. It was the connecting link between Jesus' spirit, and the spirit of the person he was talking to or looking at. Anyone else would have used this power to fulfill evil desires.

If we could see him face to face, he could read our minds also, searching for what we really needed to follow him wholeheartedly. Even though he could see our entire life record, including unbelief, or every nasty, selfish thing we've ever done, he wouldn't condemn us, but rather, would encourage us to leave the junk behind and start a new life.

There are many, many religions in the world today, but the only True Religion is the religion that comes from God, and leads to God. True Religion isn't the external forms and ceremonies that we think religion is. True Religion is being born by the Holy Spirit, an internal event. Only by seeking a connection with the Holy Spirit can we be purified of our evil and selfish desires. Only the Holy Spirit can renew our minds, changing our outlook towards others whom we may dislike or care nothing about.

It's not our public prayers or prayers said for the benefit of other's hearing that are very important. It's the prayers we say in private that are recorded and transmitted to the Altar of Incense in the Real Sanctuary. Not selfish little prayers about worldly things we want, but prayers of repentance and forgiveness, and prayers for others, that we might bless them and share the Holy Spirit/Water of Life with them. These are the prayers that will be accessed when our life records are scanned and our evil acts and thoughts are deleted from our life records.

Our private prayers are the doorway to True Worship, for this is the time we are closest to God. Public worship may or may not be important at all. Only when we talk to God alone will he reveal himself to us. We can speak to him in a private, quiet place, or, otherwise, anywhere else we feel the need to share something with him. Of course, God already knows what we're thinking via the Holy Spirit, but it's better if we verbalize, at least mentally, what's on our minds.

That should be the goal of a Christian, no more selfish prayers, no more (long-winded) grandiose public prayers. Only private, heart to heart communication with God. That's the only way we can grow closer to him.

This is exactly what Jesus often did, and I suspect, taught the Dog-People of Samaria, so despised by the nation that was supposed to teach True Religion to the world.