A LEPER...Does God's healing draw me back to His Face?
Luke 17:11 -13It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Taking a good look at them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." ... One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus' feet, so grateful. He couldn't thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan. "Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? So the question is: Who do I turn to for the miraculous things He does for me?
A WIDOW...Does God Silence draw me back to His Face?
Luke 18:1 -5 Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, "There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: 'My rights are being violated. Protect me!' He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, 'I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won't quit badgering me, I'd better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I'm going to end up beaten black-and-blue by her pounding.'" Do I have that kind of persistent faith?
A BLIND MAN...Does God's Presence draw me back to His Face?
Luke 18:35 -37 He came to the outskirts of Jericho. A blind man was sitting beside the road asking for handouts. When he heard the rustle of the crowd, he asked what was going on. They told him, "Jesus the Nazarene is going by." He yelled, "Jesus! Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!" Those ahead of Jesus told the man to shut up, but he only yelled all the louder, "Son of David! Mercy, have mercy on me!" Jesus stopped: "What do you want from me?" ... Your faith has saved and healed you.
Bev, these are promises that we can hide in our hearts. Losing hurts...no matter how much we have to accept it as allowed by God for good. Our eyes are on Him.
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28Peter tried to regain some initiative: "We left everything we owned and followed you, didn't we?"
29 -30"Yes," said Jesus, "and you won't regret it. No one who has sacrificed home, spouse, brothers and sisters, parents, children—whatever—will lose out. It will all come back multiplied many times over in your lifetime. And then the bonus of eternal life!"
I should have this tattooed on me. I just came back from the mountains for a quick break from the quiet here at home. It was a blessing to go with Jesus as my Friend and Faithful Husband. He was so very good to me.
I bought a pumpkin so big it took two men to tote it to my car. I knew the whole time I WOULD HAVE TO GET THIS OUT OF MY CAR BY MYSELF. I knew I was trusting Jesus to be my Husband about this. I've told Him many times I could not do something and He would have to do it for me, like my husband would have in the past.
When I got home, I couldn't even put my arms around this pumpkin! It took up half my hatchback area in my car.
Well, I prayed and put my thinking cap on. I moved my Cracker Barrell rocking chair to the back of the car, put a big chaise cushion on top of the armrests on the rocker, protected the car with an old quilt under the pumpkin...and slowly wiggled that monster onto the armrests of the rocker. It wouldn't fit in the seat of the rocker...just on top of the armrests!
Then I moved the rocker close to where I wanted the pumpkin to go, and slowly let the rocker down to the ground...like it was laying on it's back.
Then I rolled that pumpkin slowly to it's spot!
I sat in that rocker a little while later and sang "Awesome God" to my King of Kings.
I could not have done that task by myself. God helped me.
God loves His daughters! I could feel His smile as He directed my huge pumpkin right where I wanted it to be...in less than ten minutes.
He never lets us go...He cares about the smallest detail...what we lose for Him, we more than gain back in His timing and in His perfect plan.
Sorry this is so long. I felt so alone in the "travel" world this weekend. Couples were everywhere. But I felt so tenderly loved and cherished by God as He showed me so many things that only He could do.
Bev, these verses made me think of all you are going through right now, too. Each of us are leaning on God's Everlasting Arms as we experience our deferred hope. We are waiting on things...with our children, with our marriages, with our financial needs, with our extended families. Life hurts. We lose things, people, and worst of all...our hope almost fades.
Beth Moore taught about waiting on a deferred hope. It is a promise that hasn't been fulfilled yet. But it is God's promise to His children.
We can claim these verses as we wait in hope.
Thank you Deborah for sharing your heart with us. It's a beautiful one! My loss is real and ever with me. However, I am so very grateful for the privilege of reading 66 LL at this juncture in my life. God is stirring in me a greater desire to deal with my sin rather than relief from my pain. And yet HE is doing both! My love to you all~
ReplyDeleteDeborah, I love your heart, too. He shines so sweetly through you. Thank you for sharing your whale of a pumpkin story. You continue to give God the glory as He is husband to you.
ReplyDeleteSo many kernels of truth today...Angie challenged me to just share one point, and maybe I could if we were still in the minor prophets. You don't have to read if you don't want to, but I feel I need to write here for accountability and for the joy of sharing.
Luke 17:6 – “But the Master said, "You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it would do it.” Either you have faith or you don’t—it isn’t measured more or less. Like being a little pregnant…If you are not for me, you are against me…Help me remember this, Lord, when I try to put my faith in faith alone and not You. I think if I had more Jesus, I’d be okay. I’ve got Jesus. That’s all I need.
Luke 17:17 - Jesus said, "Were not ten healed? Where are the nine?” Be thankful!
Luke 17:33 – “Remember what happened to Lot's wife! If you grasp and cling to life on your terms, you'll lose it, but if you let that life go, you'll get life on God's terms.” What am I holding onto that leads to death, anything other than Christ alone on His terms?
Luke 18:7 – “So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help?” Keep praying! Keep at it.
Luke 18:42-43 “Jesus said, "Go ahead—see again! Your faith has saved and healed you!" The healing was instant: He looked up, seeing—and then followed Jesus, glorifying God. Everyone in the street joined in, shouting praise to God.” Praising Him this Lord’s Day!
Reading through the Bible in one year pushes you through several verses every day where we could camp for a while. That's one reason some don't read through it in one year. It's just a method of seeing the whole story of God. But wait, we're not about methods, we're about miracles. It's always a good thing to ask ourselves what really stirs in our hearts from the reading? Like today, I can't get out of my mind that Jesus faced Jerusalem and such suffering but he WEPT for them, not for himself. I'm so caught up in how I've been hurt and wronged and missed by others and by God. There's a sweet verse in Psalm 119 that comes to mind: Take my eyes off of myself and revive me in Your Ways. Do it, Oh my God!
ReplyDeleteAnnette, you can share as many points as you want. Every time I hear it again, it's almost like I am hearing it for the first time. And the way you say things just grabs my heart. So write on. And listen to what God is stirring in you. I print out my posts and put them in a notebook and every few months, I take an afternoon and go back over them. I would love to have it printed at the end of the year in a book by those places online that do book printing but I bet the cost would be huge cause of the amount that I write everyday. Feel free to write as much as you want. I'm sure we would remember more if it was just one point per day but I'm so desperate for truth over here. And the way all of you clothe your words is water to this thirsty soul.
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