It was just the one who walked away totally healed. Nine others had been healed of leprosy. These nine could now be welcomed back into society and begin living a normal life. Maybe that’s all they wanted, but still they could have at least thanked the One who made their healing possible. But, it was just one of the ten who came back to Jesus to say thank you, and this one a Samaritan. To him Jesus said, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
Is Jesus concerned about our illnesses and infirmities? As this story indicates, the answer is a resounding yes. But His concern for us goes much deeper. He wants to bring healing and wellness to our souls. Our salvation is Jesus’ top priority. It was the Samaritan that understood this, and his heart overflowed with thanksgiving.
We see the polar opposite in Romans 1 where Paul takes us inside of those who stand in rebellion towards God living ungodly and unrighteous lives. Here is what he wrote: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Romans 1:21 ESV).
According to Jeremiah, it is the heart that “is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jer 17:9 ESV). It is our hearts that need cured, that need to be changed. This healing is found in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sign that our souls have been made well is a heart overflowing with gratitude.
One out of the ten said thank you to Jesus, for what He did. That one was made well. What about you? What does your heart say?
Category: Life
The Shepherd
Sheep need a shepherd.
The Bible says that we are like sheep constantly going astray. What does that say about us? Regardless of how smart we may think we are, or how much we believe we have matters in control, we need a shepherd.
This is a hard truth to swallow. It goes against the grain of our independent, rebellious, fleshly selves. But it is true none the less. Without a shepherd, life is painfully difficult.
After an intense period of ministry, Jesus retreated with His disciples for a time of rest. But the crowds followed and pressed Jesus for more attention. Matthew wrote that when He saw them, “He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
Harassed and helpless; that is where we end up when we do not listen to the voice of Jesus; when we lean on our own understanding to figure out life.
I’ve been there and so have you. Even today as someone who knows Christ, my pride and ego can convince me that I have life under control. Pride and ego are not very good shepherds. I think the Bible would call them wolves. They never lead us down the right paths or restore our souls, or protect us. They lead us into chaos and rob us of our peace and security.
But not Jesus. He is the good shepherd, our good shepherd. He laid down His life for us. He secured us as His own. John emphasized this in His gospel account. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” He guides us down the paths of righteousness, He protects us from the deceitfulness of the world and He restores our souls.
As we grow in our knowledge of Christ, we learn to lean more and more on Him as our great Shepherd. Our spiritual ears become more sensitive and responsive to the sound of His voice. That is just one aspect of the change that takes place inside of us once we are made alive in Christ. We hear His voice and we follow.
There was a time in my life that I was a sheep without a shepherd. I had no sense of direction or purpose. I was quick to listen to the voices of the world which only added to my inner turmoil. Life was miserable. I needed a shepherd, the Great Shepherd and overseer of my soul.
A Declaration of Dependence
“My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). When you and I read it, it doesn’t sound offensive. But to the Jewish leaders, these were blasphemous words. They were already angered by Jesus’ total disregard of their Sabbath traditions. Now this man from Galilee was claiming equality with God. The Jewish leaders heard His message loud and clear, and their resolve to kill Him grew all the more.
The response of these leaders makes it difficult for us to deny Jesus’ claims to be God. That is who He is. He brought this world into existence. He created everything, and as Colossians 1:17 states, “in Him, all things hold together.” The issue of His identity was a recurring theme throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry. He underscored the truth that He was and is God time and time again. But many times when He made such claims, in the next breath, He said things like “The Son can do nothing of His own accord,” or “I can do nothing on my own?” (John 5:19, 30). Why would the creator of the heavens and earth say such things?
When you look underneath the hood, these statements amplify the idea of God being His Father, and that He is equal with God. But they also show that as a man, Jesus chose to live in dependence on His Father. He didn’t have to, but He did so willfully. Paul put it this way, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Phil 2:5-8 (ESV)
He lived in dependence upon His Father to teach us how to live. When Adam and Eve decided to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they in essence declared their independence from God. And mankind has tried to make it on its own ever since. All we have to do is watch the evening news to see how that has worked out for us. Our independent, rebellious attitude toward God has made a mess of things. Jesus, the independent one, came to earth, and through His life showed us how to live in dependence.
We are created beings. We are supposed to live in dependence on our creator. When we do, life makes sense. Let’s take a lesson from Jesus and declare our dependence on the Son.
The Message Matters
The message matters. And not just any message. There is only one that will save and that is the message concerning Jesus Christ. This is never more clearly stated than in the first several chapters of 1 Corinthians.
Paul had been very exact in his presentation of the Gospel to the Corinthians. He didn’t use fancy words or persuasive tactics in his communication. He simply preached the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Add to this message or take away from it and you have robbed it of its power.
The Corinthians were doing just that. Many of the Corinthians believed water baptism was part of the Gospel message. Others relied on the wisdom of man as the way and means of knowing God. But these just caused all kinds of confusion and even divided the believers to the point that Paul called them babes in Christ.
There is nothing we can add as far as the Gospel is concerned. It is all of Jesus and none of us. His death took away our sins. His resurrection brings life to our dead spirits. This doesn’t make sense to us. It even sounds like foolishness. This isn’t the message our minds would conceive. That is why it had to be revealed to us by the Spirit of God.
To those who accept the message for what it is, it becomes both the power of God and the wisdom of God. The message does matter. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.
The Game Changer
I am an Apple man. I love their innovative products. Most everyone else does as well. I don’t know anyone who does not have an Apple product.
Steve Jobs and his creative team at Apple changed the computing world for the better. His genius, leadership and marketing prowess have given us products that are simple to use, elegant in style, and as the younger generation would say, “just way cool.”
The world’s reaction to his death shows the enormous impact he has had in the world. Time Magazine literally stopped their presses to change the cover of their next issue to honor this computer icon. The number of posts about Steve Jobs on Facebook and Twitter is off the charts. Many are even using Job’s image as their profile picture. He is being heralded as a game changer and joined to John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford as the most influential innovators America has ever produced. Rarified company indeed, and a spot well deserved for Mr. Jobs.
Jobs wanted to put a ding in the universe. He wanted to be a game changer. Here is a quote from him, one that many people are sharing through the social networks to honor this significant man: “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
He did see things differently, and he was brave enough to follow his heart and mind. But did Steve Jobs change the world?
The Apostle John wrote this concerning the world: “For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:16-17). Despite the great advances in technology, the world remains as it has been since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden apple. And it will continue under sin’s influence and the deceptive philosophies of the evil one until Jesus returns. That is the world.
Jobs changed the way we function in this world. He changed the way we listen to music, the way we connect with one another, and the way we share our lives. In many ways he has helped to make our lives simpler, yet more elegant. And for that he is a game changer. But even so, the world is still a mess. Humanity is mired in sin and death. Evil is everywhere. Technology cannot change this dark reality. Human hearts still gravitate toward sin and evil and rebellion.
But God has not left us without hope. He sent the Game Changer, Jesus Christ. He came to rescue us from the corruption of this world. Those who trust in Him are snatched out of this world and placed into His Kingdom. John described this as “being in the world, but not of the world.”
One day, there will be new heavens and a new earth and we will be part of it. Jesus sent His Spirit into our lives as a guarantee of what is to come. Until then, Jesus continues to impact this world by imparting His life to those who receive Him.
There have been many people throughout history who have changed the way we function in the world. But there is only One who can, and who will change the world itself, the One who has power over sin and death.
How the Bible Comes to Life
At the beginning of my freshman year at the University of Georgia, I had determined to be God’s guy. Reading the Bible daily, I thought, was the key to getting me to that goal. The first morning of my college career I picked up my Bible and started reading the Gospel according to Matthew. I read four chapters that day, and four the next, and so on for several months.
I have to confess. I didn’t get very much out of what I was reading. If someone asked, I could tell them the chapters I read, for example, Matthew 9 – 12, but I couldn’t speak with understanding about the content of what I read. Honestly, it was nothing more than words on a page. But why? What was I missing?
It was four years before the answer came. When it did, the Bible came to life. Here is what I learned and what I am continuing to learn.
- The Bible is about Jesus; it is God’s testimony concerning His Son. Jesus put it this way: “These are the Scriptures that testify about Me” (John 5:39). We are to read the Bible to know Jesus and discover all that He has done for us. That is what I missed. I was reading to ascertain the rules and regulations I was to live by in order to be God’s guy. For some reason I was trying to make the Bible about me. But the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, points us to Jesus. The Bible is His story, and when we read it with that understanding, we grow in our knowledge of Him.
- God’s Spirit teaches us the meaning of the Bible. We cannot figure out the mind of God through human intellect, logic or reason. Our finite minds are not capable of such an enormous undertaking. Paul made this point to the Corinthians: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”– 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV). God wants us to know what He has prepared for us. He never intended for His love and grace to be unlocked mysteries. He sent His Spirit to us so that we can understand what He has “freely given us.” Apart from God’s Spirit, we cannot comprehend the meaning of the Scriptures. When reading the Word of God, do so with a dependent attitude, a teachable spirit, trusting God’s spirit to open your heart and mind to the meaning.
- The Spirit of God reveals the meaning of the Bible to us through the lens of the New Covenant. As believers in Jesus, we live in the New Covenant, not the Old. Trying to blend the purposes of these two covenants leads to great confusion. Everything in the Old Covenant was written to point us to the New. The Old consists of shadows and types and examples. In the New Covenant, we see and experience the realities of all that God has for us in Christ. Those days in college, I approached the Bible with an Old Covenant mindset. I was looking for rules, regulations and commandments. I was reading the Bible with a veil over my eyes and I missed Jesus. Seeing the Bible through the New Covenant lifts the veil and enables us to see the glory of God in the face of Christ.
The Bible is unique among all other books. It contains the very words of God, and specifically His word, or testimony, concerning His Son. God wants us to know Jesus and to share His life. The next time you open the Bible, do so knowing that God’s Spirit will take the message of Jesus and make Him real in your heart.
What's Love got to do with it?
Paul may be the first on record to give an answer. To him, it meant everything. Just check out 1 Corinthians 13. Love is more important than speaking in tongues or giving all that you have to the poor, or even having the faith to move mountains. As impressive as these may be (can you actually imagine that any of these would impress God?), if they are done without love, they are meaningless; just a bunch of noise makers. Of the three things that will remain, faith, hope and love, love tops the list.
It holds that top position because it is the very nature and character of God. John tells us, “God is love.” He is the source. When love flows through us, it comes from Him. It is not something we can produce through human effort or legalistic obedience. Love is the fruit of the Spirit. And it is the evidence that we have been born again and indwelt by the resurrected life of Christ. John put is this way, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God (1 John 4:7 ESV).
If you don’t know what love looks like, Paul paints a detailed picture. It is patient, kind, and never easily angered. Love does not keep records of wrongs, it does not delight in evil, and it always rejoices in truth. Love protects, trusts and hopes the best. Love perseveres. This is the love of God. This is how He loves you. This love never fails.
What’s love got to do with it? I hope in your life that His love means everything.
God's Workmanship
Most of us are familiar with Ephesians 2:8-10. This is the passage quoted most often to affirm that salvation is a free gift, not something that can be earned through human effort. Here is the passage:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Most of us stop with verse 9. When we do, we miss the full impact of God’s purpose in saving us by grace. According to verse 10, this gospel message that leads to salvation extends well beyond that moment when we cross over from death to life. Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection ushers us into a new way of life altogether, one characterized by good works.
These good works have been prepared for us beforehand by God. And as a new creature in Christ, we are to walk in them. But how do we know what they are?
In one of their many conversations with the Lord, the disciples asked Jesus this: “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28)
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29).
Paul echoes this truth in Colossians 2:6: “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” This new life that we have been raised to live is a life of faith. But this still begs the question concerning good works. Isn’t there something that God wants us to do other than merely trust Him?
In a word, no. We are His workmanship. What counts as far as God is concerned is faith in Jesus. As we trust Him and our hearts respond to the leading of His Spirit in us, we will see the good works He has prepared for us begin to flow through us. And they will be recognizable.
Here is how. First, God gives us new desires. Paul calls them the desires of the Spirit. According to the terms of the New Covenant, these desires equate to the laws God puts into our minds and writes on our hearts. They flow from God’s love and are different, night and day, from the desires of the flesh.
Forgiveness is one of those desires God’s Spirit works in us. It is not normal, humanly speaking, to want to forgive someone who has hurt us deeply. But as children of God, forgiveness of others is a work God has prepared for us to walk in. We know it because God places that desire to forgive in us.
Next, the results of walking in those desires, living them out, can be attributed only to God. We can never be sure how someone will respond. Our imaginations are quick to jump to the negative possibilities, but God always has a better outcome in mind.
Calling up all the courage that we can, we step out in faith and extend forgiveness. What we first experience happens inside. Extending forgiveness calms the soul, brings peace to the heart and turns an anxious moment into one that surpasses understanding.
And then we see God’s work within the relationship. Maybe not instantly, but over time, it becomes clearer to us just how He is working what was a painful situation together for good. Couples on the verge of divorce have testified to the power of forgiveness in restoring their marriage. Assemblies of believers that were divided have come back together as they have walked in the forgiveness of God.
What happens both within and without is far too extraordinary to attribute to human effort. We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. Let’s walk in them.
Walk in the Spirit
“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). To live in the Spirit is to be controlled by the love of God. When the New Testament speaks to the new life we have been raised to walk in, faith in Jesus expressed in love to others is it. Through His Spirit, God has poured His love into our hearts and has given us the desire to walk by faith in Jesus. As we do, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Learning to say “no” is the by-product of saying “yes” to the Spirit.
It is important to understand this distinction. So many well-intentioned believers spend a life time trying to overcome sin in their lives. They wake up each morning with this prayer on their lips: “Lord, please help me to not sin today.” At the end of the day, they look back only to see their prayer went unanswered.
A better prayer is this: “Lord, teach me to abide in you and to follow the leading of God’s Spirit in my life.” God’s Spirit is never going to lead us into sin. He leads us to trust in the Lord, to live righteous and upright lives. He leads us to love and serve others. If living out the Spirit’s work in our lives, we will automatically be saying “no” to sin. Peter put it this way:
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 2 Peter 1:3-4
Walking in the Spirit is trusting God to complete the work He began in us. We can count on Him to complete this task, even when we do not fully cooperate. This is His promise to us: “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son…”
When we do get off course, and we will, the Holy Spirit merely recalculates our journey and continues His work in conforming us to the image of His Son. He does so without condemnation. Nor does He manipulate us with fear and guilt to get us back on track. He uses our mistakes, reminding us of the forgiveness we have in Christ, and works them together for our good. He comforts our hearts with this amazing promise: “that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)
You are not alone on your journey. Jesus is there with you every step of the way. Trust Him, rely upon Him, and live out what He is working in your life. When you do you will be saying “no” to sin and “yes’ to the will of God.
The center of God’s will, that’s the place where believers are to live their lives. Temptation may look exciting; the world makes sure of that. But it has nothing on its menu that can satisfy the soul and bring contentment to the heart.
The world promises happiness, but delivers pain, sorrow and misery. There is only one person who does deliver on his promises, Jesus. And He gives so much more than mere happiness. Peace, contentment, a life of godliness and love: these are His gifts of grace to us.
And there is nothing more rewarding than experiencing Jesus living His life through you.
It is time for us abandon ourselves to Jesus, to put all that we are in His hands. It is time for us to live out Romans 12:1-2: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
Let’s walk by the Spirit and discover that His will is good, pleasing and perfect for us.
Three Questions
Is your mind boggled by the fact you belong to Jesus Christ? In spite of all the junk that comes your way, the daily trials and tribulations, does the love of God still rock your world? Of all your relationships, are any as satisfying as the relationship you have with God and the fellowship you experience with Him through His Spirit?
What would happen if we started asking ourselves these tough, penetrating questions on a regular basis? Paul’s hope in raising these issues in his letter to the Philippians was to help his readers live out what ultimately matters in life.
Here is their story; one you will see is much like ours today. They were affluent and worldly, but they had become complacent and discontent in their hearts. They complained, they argued, they exalted themselves above others, they took pride in their flesh, and they worried about the future. They held tightly to their worldly possessions. They were uneasy, restless, always striving for something more. The busyness and clutter of life bogged them down and robbed them of the joy of knowing Christ.
We’ve probably all been there and know exactly what that feels like, and it is not good. But is doesn’t have to be that way. We really can say that nothing compares to knowing Christ and experiencing the joy of our salvation. Sometimes we just have to be reminded what we truly have in Him, and that He is the source of our contentment and joy.
Ask your self these questions. Digest what it means to belong to Christ, to know and experience the love of God, and to walk in fellowship with His Spirit. These are the realities that matter, the realities that bring satisfaction and contentment to the soul.