10/10/2010 Time after Pentecost - Lectionary 28 Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)
One leper gives thanks to God
On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well."
DEVOTION
The truth is, every single day God is healing us in body, mind, and spirit. Each of us is gifted on a daily basis with blessings so great we can't possibly keep track of them all!
Unfortunately, as human beings, we often take these gifts for granted or we get so busy doing what we're "supposed to do" that we forget what we ought to do--which is to give thanks and praise to God!
In today's scripture ten lepers were healed, but only one stopped in his tracks, returned to God, and offered his worship and praise.
I'm not sure if the other 9 were ungrateful or if they were just busy trying to "show themselves to the priests" and return to society, but whatever their reasons, they forgot to thank the one who had made them whole!
Today, we are invited to remember The One who generously pours out blessings upon us each and every day! Don't walk away without saying thank you; that would be rude!
Let's pray: Good God, THANK YOU so much for all of your blessings and benefits toward me. You are so good and I truly appreciate you. I pray this in Jesus' Name, Amen.
INVITATION
If you have questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, “Come to Jesus” @ http://bit.ly/JVhaLta
Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our festal day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob. He made it a decree in Joseph, when he went out over the land of Egypt.
I hear a voice I had not known: "I relieved your shoulder of the burden; your hands were freed from the basket. In distress you called, and I rescued you; I answered you in the secret place of thunder; I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah Hear, O my people, while I admonish you; O Israel, if you would but listen to me! There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. I am the Lord your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.
"But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. O that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! Then I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn my hand against their foes. Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him, and their doom would last forever. I would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you."
DEVOTIONAL
Today’s devotional says, “Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob. Raise a song, sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp.” I love these verses because I hear them as a call to praise and worship!
In today’s reading we see that when the Israelite people forgot to lift up their voices in praise and worship they ended up paying homage to idol gods and refusing to obey the commands of God!
When we worship God, we are telling God “you are worth my praise and my adoration.” When we take the time to sit in the presence of God we are letting God know that we enjoy God’s company. When we take the time to read God’s Word, we love God well by listening to God’s heart. And when we enter into a place of real praise, in the good times and the bad, we let God know that we are seeking God’s face and not just God’s hands!
Oh hallelujah! Praise and worship are the antidote to much of what ails us! As Christians we have put all of our hope in Jesus. We know, believe, and confess that God loves us so much that God gave Jesus to die on the cross to save us from our sins and gift us with eternal life. We know that Jesus did not stay dead, but was resurrected on the third day—and that, my friends, is something to shout about!
As we sing, shout, and play instruments before the Lord, we take our focus off of ourselves and put it squarely on God. No longer do we have time to bow down to the idols of greed, consumption, materialism, vanity, jealousy, gluttony, lust, pride, anger et al, instead we bow before The One who is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and end of all things.
Now, ain'ta that good news?!
On this day, will you make up your mind to worship God with all your heart, as you pray, meditate, and read scripture as you draw near to God? If so, please pray with me:
Hallelujah God! I love you so much! You are wonderful beyond compare! Today, I worship and bow down before you. I lift up my voice in word and in song! Please draw me even nearer to Your heart on this day and please help me to share Your love with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
BRING PASTOR YOLANDA TO YOUR HOME TOWN--Would you like to invite Pastor Yolanda Lehman to come speak or preach at your church or Christian ministry event? Please use the form to the right. Once you click “submit” your information will be privately conveyed to her email address! Pastor Yolanda is available for church anniversaries, pastoral appreciations, women’s day, missionary day, retreats, revivals, conferences, and so much more! Fill out the form to the right to get onto her preaching or teaching schedule!
LISTEN TO PASTOR YOLANDA’S SERMONS ONLINE--To listen to audio recordings of Pastor Yolanda's Sunday sermons, please visit http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/57814 or click the widget to the right on this page!
PUT ALL OF YOUR HOPE IN JESUS--If you have additional questions about how to become a friend and follower of Jesus, please see the devotion entitled, "Come to Jesus" http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/2009/03/come-to-jesus.html
Pastor Yolanda is now publishing another blog entitled, “A Spoken WORD” in celebration of Holy Hip Hop, Gospel/Christian Rap and Spoken Word. Please check it out @ http://aspokenword.blogspot.com/
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You are invited to leave comments or questions regarding today’s devotional. These comments are public.
EACH ONE--REACH ONE! To share GOOD NEWS with a friend please click the "Share With Friends" button to the right!
Thanks for reading and please come again. Pastor Yolanda extends a very special welcome to all of our friends reading outside of the United States of America! We are honored that you are sharing with us today.
From Pastor Yolanda's blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com
Psalm 105:1-11, 37-45 (NRSV) God promises life to Abraham
O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually. Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. He is mindful of his covenant forever, of the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, "To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance." ...
Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled. Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night. They asked, and he brought quails, and gave them food from heaven in abundance. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river. For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.
So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing. He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples, that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the Lord!
DEVOTION
Today’s scripture is an affirmation of what we learned just days ago about GOD being a promise keeper! The entire poem is a song of praise meant to share the GOOD NEWS with others! In it the psalmist remembers God’s promise to Abraham and the many ways in which God has been fulfilling that promise for many generations—yay thousands of years!
God is still keeping God’s promises and we are all the recipients of this wonderful gift! Some of my favorite promises are: God shall supply all of my needs according to God’s riches in glory (Philippians 4:19), God will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), all things work together for good for those that love God and are called according to God’s purposes (Romans 8:28), and if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved (Romans 10:9)!
In all of these Biblical scriptures, God has made us a promise, and God will surely keep it! In response to all of these promises the psalmist encourages us by saying, “O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his holy name…Praise the Lord!”
This is always the proper response to the wonderful works God does in our lives! Who amongst us was not taught by our mother, father, aunt, teacher, or guardian, “When someone does something nice for you, you should always say, THANK YOU!”
Today, let us pause in our Lenten Journey to simply say, “God, I thank you.” Let us take a moment to number our blessings, naming them one by one. Can it be done? How long will the list be? Will it ever end? Of course not! But let us try…
By taking the time to number our blessings, we will quickly come to the realization that we are truly, “blessed and highly favored.” It is a sad fact that most human beings invest more time complaining about what is wrong, than appreciating what is right!
Do not wait until it is too late to appreciate your many blessings! Today’s GOOD NEWS is that God is always at work in our bodies, minds, and spirits. The very fact that we are “clothed and in our right minds” and reading this devotional means that God has been very good to us! Let us celebrate God’s many benefits and share them with others!
Will you take the time to count your blessings today?
Loving God, you are the most generous One in all of the universe--and beyond! When I stop complaining, and start praising, I become aware of how very good you have been to me. Please forgive me for failing to say, “Thank you,” and please help me to live out my “thank you” in bold witness to others. I know that you are good all of the time and I want to share this knowledge with others. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Good News has now added a prayer ministry. If you have a prayer request or praise report, or would like to pray for others, please click the link found under my profile picture. Thank you!
The Good News Living Book Club will be reading Hinds Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard during March. You can purchase the book by clicking the link to the right. Please mark your calendars for our very first book club meeting to be held on Saturday, March 28, 2009, at 9:00am.
You are invited to leave comments or questions regarding today’s devotional. These comments are public.
EACH ONE--REACH ONE! To share GOOD NEWS with a friend please click the "Share With Friends" button to the right! Thanks for reading and please come again.
Pastor Yolanda extends a very special welcome to our friends reading outside of the United States of America! We are honored that you are sharing with us today.
From Pastor Yolanda’s blog http://aintathatgoodnews.blogspot.com/
