Taking a thoughtful walk through a broad meadow, a young girl pauses to take in the world around her. As she drinks deeply of it all, a lone wildflower left over from the great burst of spring catches her eye. She wonders at its beauty, its tenacity. Approaching it, she stoops lower to marvel at the wildflower blushing purple. Its lovely face upturned toward heaven, expectant to receive the good gifts it receives every day... the dew, the sun, the breeze, the busy bees. Her thoughts turn to her own life, comparing herself to that one flower.
"God takes care of this flower, will He not much more care for me?"
"Interesting," she thinks, "how this little flower reflects faith and hope. How it has endured to the end of spring, stands alone and still has an upturned face. How beautiful it is, it seems almost grateful. Had I not taken the time to stop and look around me, I might have missed this precious gift. Funny, I had to stoop lower to really see all of this. I wonder if this is the way it works, if stooping lower is the path to gratefulness. Is stooping lower the only way to really see the good gifts? Surely there are gifts I receive everyday just like this flower. Even the gifts this flower receives are gifts that I receive I suppose."
"What is it that scripture says?" She pulls a small bible from her skirt pocket. Turning the pages to Matthew 6 she reads softly to herself, "Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!" (v. 28-30)
Humbled by the thought, she sits next to the flower to turn her own face heavenward and bows her heart in grateful praise.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
And then there was one...
Leprosy was and still is a devastating disease, one that separates you from society. Lepers are outcasts, people fear being near them, they suffer physically and emotionally every day. Imagine losing all of your day to day relationships, even the seemingly insignificant ones like the grocery clerk or bank teller. Imagine seeing fear in the eyes of everyone who sees you, feeling the rejection of people you know and those you don't know, to be unable to touch another human being for the rest of your life. Devastating and hopeless.
In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus encounters 10 lepers along the road to Jerusalem. This story is both extraordinary and sobering. These 10 men called to Jesus from a distance to have pity on them... to see their physical condition and restore them to wholeness.
Christ simply tells them to show themselves to the priest - he is the one man who can declare them cleansed so they can return to normal life. The remarkable sentence here is this one (v. 14), "And as they went, they were cleansed."
AS THEY WENT... they heard a simple command, they simply obeyed and as they obeyed they were cleansed! Absolutely amazing isn't it? That phrase struck me for the first time although I have read this account many times before.
Yet this isn't the most remarkable part... verse 15-16:
"One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan."
ONE.... one of them came back. One of them praised God. One of them threw himself at Jesus' feet. One of them thanked Him. ONE. Wow. Sobering.
Ten men followed Jesus' directive but only ONE acknowledged the life altering change that took place. The restoration of life, relationships, wholeness. Each one of those men was given physical life back.... physical life.
But ONE. One returned to Jesus, Who asked where the other nine were. Had this one man been the only one to return with gratitude and praise on his lips? Not only was he one man but he was a Samaritan man - a man despised by the Jews for his split nationality: a Jewish Gentile, unclean to the Jews.
This Samaritan man returned with a heart full of gratitude at the physical miracle his body had experienced and Christ healed him even deeper than that...
"Then He said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has made you well.' ” (v. 19)
The ONE: he believed, he was grateful, he fell at Jesus' feet, he had faith and it made him well. He was whole again, completely whole, not just physically but spiritually as well. Spiritual life. Extraordinary.
There is the greater miracle... faith.
Hebrews 11: 1-2, 6 tells us, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.... And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
Do I live my faith? Do I live a life of gratitude? Do I return to the feet of Jesus in humble, wholehearted worship and thankfulness when He heals? When He provides? When He restores?
In what ways am I like the nine lepers who took the good from Christ and never thought to say thank you? Who only thought of themselves?
In what areas do I need to repent because I have not acknowledged God's grace and mercy in my life?
How can I make gratitude an active practice of my living faith in Christ? Every single day?
Lord, enable me to be like the one who returned before he saw the priest to praise You with boldness, to fall at Your feet, to thank You... in ALL things, every moment of every day.
In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus encounters 10 lepers along the road to Jerusalem. This story is both extraordinary and sobering. These 10 men called to Jesus from a distance to have pity on them... to see their physical condition and restore them to wholeness.
Christ simply tells them to show themselves to the priest - he is the one man who can declare them cleansed so they can return to normal life. The remarkable sentence here is this one (v. 14), "And as they went, they were cleansed."
AS THEY WENT... they heard a simple command, they simply obeyed and as they obeyed they were cleansed! Absolutely amazing isn't it? That phrase struck me for the first time although I have read this account many times before.
Yet this isn't the most remarkable part... verse 15-16:
"One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan."
ONE.... one of them came back. One of them praised God. One of them threw himself at Jesus' feet. One of them thanked Him. ONE. Wow. Sobering.
Ten men followed Jesus' directive but only ONE acknowledged the life altering change that took place. The restoration of life, relationships, wholeness. Each one of those men was given physical life back.... physical life.
But ONE. One returned to Jesus, Who asked where the other nine were. Had this one man been the only one to return with gratitude and praise on his lips? Not only was he one man but he was a Samaritan man - a man despised by the Jews for his split nationality: a Jewish Gentile, unclean to the Jews.
This Samaritan man returned with a heart full of gratitude at the physical miracle his body had experienced and Christ healed him even deeper than that...
"Then He said to him, 'Rise and go; your faith has made you well.' ” (v. 19)
The ONE: he believed, he was grateful, he fell at Jesus' feet, he had faith and it made him well. He was whole again, completely whole, not just physically but spiritually as well. Spiritual life. Extraordinary.
There is the greater miracle... faith.
Hebrews 11: 1-2, 6 tells us, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.... And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
Do I live my faith? Do I live a life of gratitude? Do I return to the feet of Jesus in humble, wholehearted worship and thankfulness when He heals? When He provides? When He restores?
In what ways am I like the nine lepers who took the good from Christ and never thought to say thank you? Who only thought of themselves?
In what areas do I need to repent because I have not acknowledged God's grace and mercy in my life?
How can I make gratitude an active practice of my living faith in Christ? Every single day?
Lord, enable me to be like the one who returned before he saw the priest to praise You with boldness, to fall at Your feet, to thank You... in ALL things, every moment of every day.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Got Endurance?
"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1: 2-4
There it is, the challenge to consider ALL joy, various trials, testing of faith, the need for endurance. (Note to self...This journey of eucharisteo appears to be uphill- put on your hiking boots and take lots of water!)
Groan... endurance? You mean the act of bearing or suffering; a continuing under pain or distress without resistance, or without being overcome; sufferance; patience? Yes My child
O Lord, without being overcome? Yes My child
I am often overcome, impatient, and resisting Your sovereign hand through various trials. Had you set the bar lower I would have hit the mark at least once in a while.... Let endurance have it's perfect result My child
{Scripture rings so true that we do not think the thoughts that God thinks, we do not operate the way God operates. (Isaiah 55:8-9) }
Endure even when others exclude, accuse, reject, purposefully hurt me? Yes My child
Endure even when the oven breaks, the car dies, the window cracks, the furniture falls apart? Yes My child
Endure when there are interruptions at every turn, distractions, hindrances to progress, setbacks? Yes My child
Endure.... continue under pain or distress without resistance. Yes My child
Wow... do I ever do that? Not on my own.
Oh Lord, You and You only can enable me to endure.
There is one of the greatest graces I can find in this world, add that to my One Thousand Gifts list... not having to endure alone.
I run to Your Word- You are my refuge. (Psalm 5:11; 16:1; 18:2; 18:30; 25:20; 31:19)
I found another grace to add to my list! Firmly in His grip.
Thank You Lord that You are the source of my endurance and the source of my rest. Enable me Lord to count it ALL joy.
Pressing in and pressing on by His grace for another day.
And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1: 2-4
There it is, the challenge to consider ALL joy, various trials, testing of faith, the need for endurance. (Note to self...This journey of eucharisteo appears to be uphill- put on your hiking boots and take lots of water!)
Groan... endurance? You mean the act of bearing or suffering; a continuing under pain or distress without resistance, or without being overcome; sufferance; patience? Yes My child
O Lord, without being overcome? Yes My child
I am often overcome, impatient, and resisting Your sovereign hand through various trials. Had you set the bar lower I would have hit the mark at least once in a while.... Let endurance have it's perfect result My child
{Scripture rings so true that we do not think the thoughts that God thinks, we do not operate the way God operates. (Isaiah 55:8-9) }
Endure even when others exclude, accuse, reject, purposefully hurt me? Yes My child
Endure even when the oven breaks, the car dies, the window cracks, the furniture falls apart? Yes My child
Endure when there are interruptions at every turn, distractions, hindrances to progress, setbacks? Yes My child
Endure.... continue under pain or distress without resistance. Yes My child
Wow... do I ever do that? Not on my own.
Oh Lord, You and You only can enable me to endure.
There is one of the greatest graces I can find in this world, add that to my One Thousand Gifts list... not having to endure alone.
I run to Your Word- You are my refuge. (Psalm 5:11; 16:1; 18:2; 18:30; 25:20; 31:19)
I found another grace to add to my list! Firmly in His grip.
Thank You Lord that You are the source of my endurance and the source of my rest. Enable me Lord to count it ALL joy.
Pressing in and pressing on by His grace for another day.
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