I want to be…

like the Samaritan Leper.

Jesus healed 10 lepers and “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan.”  Luke 17: 15 – 16.  Jesus healed the whole group of lepers and this man was the only one that came back to say thank you.

Jesus had redeemed the leper’s life from pain and death.  And the leper made an effort to show his gratitude for what Jesus had done for him.

Jesus has done the same thing for me.   He redeemed me from hopelessness, death and eternal separation from the only source of good things in this universe – our Father God.

After reading this passage many years, ago, I decided to start all of my prayers with thanking God for who he is and what he has done for me.  I still do this today and I find it puts me in the right mindset to have great conversations with God.  He has already done so much for me – lavishing his love on me, forgiving my rebellion and self-centeredness, pouring his blessings down on me, giving me purpose and peace…..I could go on.  So starting every prayer with ‘thank you’ helps me avoid the trap of treating God like Santa Claus just going down my list of prayer requests.

For the rest of my life here on this planet, I will be like the leper who came back to say ‘thank you’.  I will live my life in gratitude to God.

Thank you, Abba Father.

I want to be…

like the Samaritan Leper.

Jesus healed 10 lepers and “One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan.”  Luke 17: 15 – 16.  Jesus healed the whole group of lepers and this man was the only one that came back to say thank you.

Jesus had redeemed the leper’s life from pain and death.  And the leper made an effort to show his gratitude for what Jesus had done for him.

Jesus has done the same thing for me.   He redeemed me from hopelessness, death and eternal separation from the only source of good things in this universe – our Father God.

After reading this passage many years, ago, I decided to start all of my prayers with thanking God for who he is and what he has done for me.  I still do this today and I find it puts me in the right mindset to have great conversations with God.  He has already done so much for me – lavishing his love on me, forgiving my rebellion and self-centeredness, pouring his blessings down on me, giving me purpose and peace…..I could go on.  So starting every prayer with ‘thank you’ helps me avoid the trap of treating him like Santa Claus and going down my list of ‘prayer requests’.

For the rest of my life here on this planet, I will be like the leper who came back to say ‘thank you’.  I will live my life in gratitude to God.

Thank you, Abba Father.

I want to be…

like the Samaritan Leper.

He came back to Jesus after Jesus healed him.  He came back praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.  He was one of ten lepers that Jesus healed in Luke 17 as he travelled to Jerusalem.  Jesus healed them all and this man was the only one that came back to say thank you.

Jesus had redeemed the leper’s life from pain and death.  And the leper came back to show his gratitude for what Jesus had done for him.

Jesus has done the same thing for me.   He redeemed me from hopelessness, death and eternal separation from the only source of good things in this universe – our Father God.

After reading this passage many years, ago, I decided to start all of my prayers with thanking God for who he is and what he has done for me.  I still do this today and I find it puts me in the right mindset to have great conversations with God.  He has already done so much for me – lavishing his love on me, forgiving my rebellion and self-centeredness, pouring his blessings down on me, giving me purpose and peace…..I could go on.  So starting every prayer with ‘thank you’ helps me avoid the trap of treating him like Santa Claus and going down my list of ‘prayer requests’.

For the rest of my life here on this planet, I will be like the leper who came back to say ‘thank you’.  I will live my life in gratitude to God.

Thank you, Abba Father.

 

He’s Got This

I’m on a separate path.  Not the same as everyone else.

God is telling me in Isaiah 8 to look at what everyone else is afraid of and……

don’t be afraid.

If you’re a believer, he’s telling you that, too.

“Don’t fear what they fear.”

We have so much we could be afraid of –

disease,

accidents,

rejection,

betrayal,

failure,

loneliness,

and so much more.

When we are trusting in Jesus as our Savior, we don’t need to be afraid of those things.  Jesus is walking right next to us, guiding us through everything that happens to us – working it out for our good.

Dying can be a constant fear hanging over our heads like a big, black thundercloud.  This ominous cloud sends down lighting which strikes us – often by surprise and  without reason.

But those of us who trust in God don’t need to fear our own deaths.  In God’s eyes, death on earth is life is heaven.  His son or daughter comes home – leaving behind all of the pain and sin in this world.

No more tears.

No more trials.

God tells us we have nothing to fear – not even death.  He’s got this.

Thank you, Abba Father.

I want to be…

like the Samaritan Leper.

He came back to Jesus after Jesus healed him.  He came back praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him.

He was one of ten lepers that Jesus healed in Luke 17 as he travelled to Jerusalem.

Jesus healed them all.

This man was the only one that came back to say thank you.

Jesus had redeemed the leper’s life from pain and death.  And the leper came back to show his gratitude for what Jesus had done for him.

Jesus did the same thing for you and me.  He redeemed our lives from pain, death and eternal separation from the only source of good things in this universe – our Father God.

For the rest of our lives here on this planet, let our first response be gratitude to God.

Dear Jesus, We are very grateful for all of the things you are and for what you have done for us.  Help us live lives full of gratitude, counting the blessings we have received from you each day.  Thank you.  In your redeeming name we pray, Amen.

In His Peace

Several members of my immediate family are already in heaven – my father, my mother, my oldest brother and my step-father.  With tears streaming down my face, I read Isaiah 57 as he tells us why the righteous die:

When those devoted to God die, it’s not the end.July 19 2014 In his Peace

Those left behind don’t understand that the righteous are taken out of this world so they don’t have to experience the ‘evils’ here any longer.

They go to a place of rest.  We call it ‘death’, but God calls it peace.

Thank you, dear Father.

Finish the Race Well

Moses ran the race well all the way to the end.  He was obedient and strong in the faith to his last day.MMMMMMMMArch 9 2014

I want that to be my story and my legacy.  One of my other goals as I grow older is to become more and more Christ-like.  Not more and more crabby 🙂

Moses was a great man of faith.  We have a great man of faith living today – Billy Graham who recently celebrated his 95th birthday.  He is getting frail like all 95 year-olds and he was quoted as saying:

“One day you will hear that I have died.  It won’t be true.  Because I will be more alive after I leave this earth than I ever was when I lived on it.”

Amen!  Hallelujah!