This is a message from Pastor John Wright.

 

Key Verse: Luke 17:11-19

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 God is saying we are to give thanks in all circumstances. This means when a tragedy happens in our lives we can give thanks that we have God to help us get through, that God can comfort and strengthen us.

There are two points that I see in this key passage:

 

1. The Lord responds to faith

At that time if you had a skin infection such as leprosy you must stay outside the camp in a leper colony. This was the law. Therefore the ten lepers had to stay at a certain distance. They could not go up to Jesus and ask Him to pray for them or touch Jesus in order to get healing. The ten lepers had to believe and exercise their faith that Jesus could heal them from a distance. Jesus responded to the lepers in verse 14 saying “Go, show yourselves to the priest.” The priest is the only one who can declare that the people have been fully healed and are safe to be reintegrated back into the camp.

As Jesus did not heal them instantaneously, the ten lepers had to exercise their faith and believe that they would be healed by the time they arrived at the priest. Jesus healed them when He saw their faith. At some time between when they took the first step and when they arrived at the priest all ten lepers were healed. What we can take away from this is sometimes healing is not instantaneous, but we must continue to have faith.

2. God is looking for our thankfulness (v.17)

God doesn’t owe us anything, but the gift of eternal life is freely available.

The other nine lepers were healed from a terrible skin disease. Their bodies were fully restored. How did they forget to thank God? The other nine were healed from leprosy, but I believe here Jesus is saying in verse 19 to the one that came back, the Samaritan, that he has been made well eternally and spiritually. Because of his faith and thankfulness the Samaritan was made whole body, soul, and spirit. This spiritual healing is what we all need and that can only be achieved when we accept Jesus into our lives.

 

If you need healing we would love to pray for you, just leave a comment below.

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If you would like to accept Jesus into your heart please pray the following prayer.
“Dear God, I am a sinner and need forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ shed His precious blood and died for my sin. I am willing to turn from sin. I now invite Christ to come into my heart and life as my personal Saviour.”

If you have just prayed this prayer and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, congratulations! We invite you to contact us as we would love to pray a blessing over your life and help guide you on your journey.

The next step. As a way to grow closer to Him, the Bible tells us to follow up on our commitment.

• Get baptised as commanded by Christ.
• Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.
• Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time. Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word. Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible.
• Seek fellowship with other followers of Jesus. Develop a group of believing friends to answer your questions and support you.
• Find a local church where you can worship God.

God bless you.