THANK YOUR WAY TO GREATER BLESSINGS :
LUKE 17:15 - And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,
People who have a grateful heart are always praising God. You often hear them say, “God is good!” They know that God is the reason for every blessing they get.
But there are those who look to God for blessings and when they get blessed, they just go on their merry way. Their hearts are captivated by the blessings instead of the One who has blessed them.
Jesus had an encounter with both these types of people when He walked into a village one day. Ten lepers cried out to Him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13) Now, when you call out to Jesus for mercy, He always hears you. On another occasion, when two blind men cried out to Him, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” He took the time to give them their miracles. (Matthew 9:27–30)
So these 10 lepers cried out to Him for mercy. He stopped, looked at them and said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And “as they went, they were cleansed”. (Luke 17:14) But only one came back and fell at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Notice the very sad words of Jesus that followed: “Were there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17)
The other nine obviously knew that it was Jesus who had cleansed them. Yet, they did not bother to go back and thank Him. My friend, let it be said of you that when the blessings come, you remember to give God the praise, glory and honor, and acknowledge that He is the source of every blessing in your life.
Do you know that when the man came back to thank Jesus, he received the additional blessing of becoming whole? Jesus said to him, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:19, KJV) He was not just cleansed of leprosy, he got his missing fingers and toes back!
My friend, when your heart is thankful toward God, you position yourself for even greater blessings!
THE LAW IS NOT OF FAITH :
Mark 7:2, "And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault."
Man looks on the outward appearance (this is what the scribes and Pharisees were concerned with), but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Jesus looked on men's hearts. The Old Testament laws concerning washing served a secondary purpose of hygiene, but as stated in Colossians 2:16-17 and Hebrews 9:1,9-10, their real purpose was to shadow or illustrate spiritual truth.
Defiled food may hurt our bodies, but it cannot reach our spirits (Jn. 3:6).
The scribes and Pharisees missed the principle of spiritual purity taught by the Old Testament ordinances and became obsessed with strict adherence to their rituals. While they relentlessly enforced the laws dealing with the physical realm, they had become completely corrupt in the spiritual realm.
"The law is not of faith." When combined with Romans 14:23 which says, "...whatsoever is not of faith is sin," this statement must have been near blasphemy to the legalistic Jews, just as it is to legalistic Christians today. It is sin for the New Testament believer to try to relate to God by attempting to keep the Old Testament law. The law itself is not sin (Rom. 7:7). But it is sin to try to use the law for justification with God. This was never the purpose of the law.
Under the law a person got what he deserved. Under faith, the New Testament believer receives grace because of what Jesus did for him. Any departure from faith, especially a departure back to the Old Testament law, voids the work of Christ (Gal. 2:21) and is the worst sin of all. Only faith in Jesus Christ has the key that unlocks the door to the law's harsh imprisonment of guilt and condemnation. With a great price He has purchased your freedom. Walk in it today and enjoy His Life.
INTERRUPTIONS
The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. —Psalm 33:11
My sister and I were looking forward to our holiday in Taiwan. We had purchased our plane tickets and booked our hotel rooms. But 2 weeks before the trip, my sister learned she had to stay at home in Singapore to handle an emergency. We were disappointed that our plans were interrupted.
Jesus’ disciples were accompanying Him on an urgent mission when their trip was interrupted (Mark 5:21-42). The daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, was dying. Time was of the essence, and Jesus was on His way to their home. Then, suddenly, Jesus stopped and said, “Who touched My clothes?” (v.30).
The disciples seemed irritated by this and said, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” (v.31). But Jesus saw it as an opportunity to minister to a suffering woman. Her illness had made her ceremonially unclean and unable to participate in community life for 12 years! (see Lev. 15:25-27).
While Jesus was talking to this woman, Jairus’ daughter died. It was too late—or so it seemed. But the delay allowed Jairus to experience an even deeper knowledge of Jesus and His power—even power over death!
Sometimes our disappointment can be God’s appointment.
Disappointment—His appointment
No good thing will He withhold;
From denials oft we gather
Treasures of His love untold.
Look for God’s purpose in your next interruption.
DON'T WASTE TIME WONDERING :
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. – Ephesians 5:17
Sometimes, believers wring their hands and worry about whether or not they're praying according to God's will. "Oh, dear me," they say, "I certainly can't expect God to do something for me that's outside His will." And they're absolutely right.
But they don't need to waste time standing around looking puzzled. They need to grab their Bibles and find out what the will of God is.
God has made some very specific promises in His Word and it's His will to fulfill every one of them in your life. In fact, those promises are divinely guaranteed by a contract that's been signed in the blood of Jesus.
Think of it this way. Your Bible is the last will and testament of Jesus Christ. It is a record of your inheritance. Everything that belongs to you has been written down in that book and the smartest thing you can do is to find out what is in it. Don't leave it lying on the coffee table and hit the floor crying, "Oh, God! Oh, God! I'm searching for the truth."
Pick up your Bible from the coffee table and find out what belongs to you! Find out how you need to change to get in line with God's will.
Some people don't do that. They try to change God instead. They'll go on and on trying to convince God just how badly they hurt or how poor they are. They'll beg and plead and wheedle, all the while acting as though they had to somehow change God's mind about the situation. Those folks are in for a long wait.
God is never going to change. The Bible says He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. His will is too. So don't waste your time wondering if your prayers are in line with it. Get the Book and base your prayers on it. Then you can rest assured the answer is on the way!
PRAYER FOR THE DAY :
“The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.” (Isaiah 50:4)
Dear Lord God, I praise You. I honor You. I thank You God for another beautiful day. Your unfailing love clings to me like the morning dew cling to the flower. Your holiness covers my iniquities and purifies me as white as snow this morning. May God fill me with the Holy Spirit and fill full my mouth with Your words as they are sweeter than honey from the honeycomb!
Gratefully, in Jesus’ holy name, Amen !!!
http://walthope.tripod.com
LUKE 17:15 - And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God,
People who have a grateful heart are always praising God. You often hear them say, “God is good!” They know that God is the reason for every blessing they get.
But there are those who look to God for blessings and when they get blessed, they just go on their merry way. Their hearts are captivated by the blessings instead of the One who has blessed them.
Jesus had an encounter with both these types of people when He walked into a village one day. Ten lepers cried out to Him, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” (Luke 17:13) Now, when you call out to Jesus for mercy, He always hears you. On another occasion, when two blind men cried out to Him, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” He took the time to give them their miracles. (Matthew 9:27–30)
So these 10 lepers cried out to Him for mercy. He stopped, looked at them and said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And “as they went, they were cleansed”. (Luke 17:14) But only one came back and fell at Jesus’ feet, giving Him thanks. Notice the very sad words of Jesus that followed: “Were there not 10 cleansed? But where are the nine?” (Luke 17:17)
The other nine obviously knew that it was Jesus who had cleansed them. Yet, they did not bother to go back and thank Him. My friend, let it be said of you that when the blessings come, you remember to give God the praise, glory and honor, and acknowledge that He is the source of every blessing in your life.
Do you know that when the man came back to thank Jesus, he received the additional blessing of becoming whole? Jesus said to him, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.” (Luke 17:19, KJV) He was not just cleansed of leprosy, he got his missing fingers and toes back!
My friend, when your heart is thankful toward God, you position yourself for even greater blessings!
THE LAW IS NOT OF FAITH :
Mark 7:2, "And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault."
Man looks on the outward appearance (this is what the scribes and Pharisees were concerned with), but the Lord looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7). Jesus looked on men's hearts. The Old Testament laws concerning washing served a secondary purpose of hygiene, but as stated in Colossians 2:16-17 and Hebrews 9:1,9-10, their real purpose was to shadow or illustrate spiritual truth.
Defiled food may hurt our bodies, but it cannot reach our spirits (Jn. 3:6).
The scribes and Pharisees missed the principle of spiritual purity taught by the Old Testament ordinances and became obsessed with strict adherence to their rituals. While they relentlessly enforced the laws dealing with the physical realm, they had become completely corrupt in the spiritual realm.
"The law is not of faith." When combined with Romans 14:23 which says, "...whatsoever is not of faith is sin," this statement must have been near blasphemy to the legalistic Jews, just as it is to legalistic Christians today. It is sin for the New Testament believer to try to relate to God by attempting to keep the Old Testament law. The law itself is not sin (Rom. 7:7). But it is sin to try to use the law for justification with God. This was never the purpose of the law.
Under the law a person got what he deserved. Under faith, the New Testament believer receives grace because of what Jesus did for him. Any departure from faith, especially a departure back to the Old Testament law, voids the work of Christ (Gal. 2:21) and is the worst sin of all. Only faith in Jesus Christ has the key that unlocks the door to the law's harsh imprisonment of guilt and condemnation. With a great price He has purchased your freedom. Walk in it today and enjoy His Life.
INTERRUPTIONS
The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the plans of His heart to all generations. —Psalm 33:11
My sister and I were looking forward to our holiday in Taiwan. We had purchased our plane tickets and booked our hotel rooms. But 2 weeks before the trip, my sister learned she had to stay at home in Singapore to handle an emergency. We were disappointed that our plans were interrupted.
Jesus’ disciples were accompanying Him on an urgent mission when their trip was interrupted (Mark 5:21-42). The daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, was dying. Time was of the essence, and Jesus was on His way to their home. Then, suddenly, Jesus stopped and said, “Who touched My clothes?” (v.30).
The disciples seemed irritated by this and said, “You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” (v.31). But Jesus saw it as an opportunity to minister to a suffering woman. Her illness had made her ceremonially unclean and unable to participate in community life for 12 years! (see Lev. 15:25-27).
While Jesus was talking to this woman, Jairus’ daughter died. It was too late—or so it seemed. But the delay allowed Jairus to experience an even deeper knowledge of Jesus and His power—even power over death!
Sometimes our disappointment can be God’s appointment.
Disappointment—His appointment
No good thing will He withhold;
From denials oft we gather
Treasures of His love untold.
Look for God’s purpose in your next interruption.
DON'T WASTE TIME WONDERING :
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. – Ephesians 5:17
Sometimes, believers wring their hands and worry about whether or not they're praying according to God's will. "Oh, dear me," they say, "I certainly can't expect God to do something for me that's outside His will." And they're absolutely right.
But they don't need to waste time standing around looking puzzled. They need to grab their Bibles and find out what the will of God is.
God has made some very specific promises in His Word and it's His will to fulfill every one of them in your life. In fact, those promises are divinely guaranteed by a contract that's been signed in the blood of Jesus.
Think of it this way. Your Bible is the last will and testament of Jesus Christ. It is a record of your inheritance. Everything that belongs to you has been written down in that book and the smartest thing you can do is to find out what is in it. Don't leave it lying on the coffee table and hit the floor crying, "Oh, God! Oh, God! I'm searching for the truth."
Pick up your Bible from the coffee table and find out what belongs to you! Find out how you need to change to get in line with God's will.
Some people don't do that. They try to change God instead. They'll go on and on trying to convince God just how badly they hurt or how poor they are. They'll beg and plead and wheedle, all the while acting as though they had to somehow change God's mind about the situation. Those folks are in for a long wait.
God is never going to change. The Bible says He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. His will is too. So don't waste your time wondering if your prayers are in line with it. Get the Book and base your prayers on it. Then you can rest assured the answer is on the way!
PRAYER FOR THE DAY :
“The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.” (Isaiah 50:4)
Dear Lord God, I praise You. I honor You. I thank You God for another beautiful day. Your unfailing love clings to me like the morning dew cling to the flower. Your holiness covers my iniquities and purifies me as white as snow this morning. May God fill me with the Holy Spirit and fill full my mouth with Your words as they are sweeter than honey from the honeycomb!
Gratefully, in Jesus’ holy name, Amen !!!
http://walthope.tripod.com
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