![]() We have a strong standing to declare to the whole universe, even to Satan and to all the rebellious angels, principalities, powers, and demons, that we, the local churches, are standing one with God for His purpose. What is your goal? Is it to make a name for yourself or to be famous? Is it to build up something other than God’s purpose? We are here in Anaheim to express God and represent Him. ![]() If we have different goals, we shall be divided. Although we have one God, we may have different goals. Their unique goal was to express God and represent Him. Their goal was not their own self-interests. Their goal was not farming, education, or industry. Noah and his family had no other God and no other goal. What was God’s goal? God’s goal was that man should express Him and represent Him. “Neither Noah nor his sons were for their own interests. Only a small number have worshipped God in spirit by drinking of Him as living water.” How much different this is from formal, religious worship! Throughout the centuries, most Christian worship has been like that of the priests in the temple. Thus, God was worshipped by her in a genuine way. This woman worshipped God in her spirit by drinking of Him as the water to quench her thirst. Instead, He conversed with an immoral, semi-heathen woman concerning the worship which satisfies God’s heart. In John 4 the Lord Jesus did not spend time talking to typical Jews according to the Old Testament way of worship. Like the priests in the temple, they are blind to what true worship is. They condemn those in the Lord’s recovery as heretical, when they themselves are heretical and ignorant of the truth. Today’s Christians need to see what real worship is. God was seeking real worship, and He received it from this Samaritan woman who drank of the Spirit as the living water. The Spirit as the living water was infused into her. The priests worshipped God in vain the Samaritan woman worshipped Him in reality by drinking Him into her being. ![]() At that time the true worship to God was offered not by the priests in the temple, but by the Samaritan woman who was drinking the living water. Eventually, this Samaritan woman drank of the living water and offered real worship to God. He met with her in the open air, away from the temple and the altar, without religious forms and rituals. But where was God at that time? Was He in the temple with the priests, or was He with the woman by the well in Samaria? As we all know, He was with the Samaritan woman. At the very time the Lord Jesus was speaking with the Samaritan woman, the priests in the temple were worshipping God in the formal, systematic, prescribed manner. She is a good example of how we should pay less attention to forms and more to eating and drinking. My granddaughter enjoys her food in a spontaneous and informal way. When my little granddaughter visits us, her grandmother often gives her something to eat. He spent his time watching how others at the dinner conducted themselves and how they used their eating utensils. Because he was so concerned about proper etiquette and table manners, he did not enjoy the food at all. I heard of a Chinese ambassador who attended a formal state dinner in Germany. Sometimes the more we pay attention to manners, the less we enjoy our food. Our eating and drinking are often hindered by all the attention we give to table manners. Infants are better at eating and drinking than adults are. Mothers know that babies eat and drink automatically, not caring for any forms, manners, or regulations. “If we see that God’s intention is to work Himself into us, we shall automatically eat and drink of Him.
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