God, this one is You!

Luke 17:11-19.

A year 5 teacher begins: “Today, boys and girls, you're going to draw on your pieces of paper something or someone you're grateful for... it's a great way to remind ourselves how lucky we are for what we have or who we have in our lives. Afterwards, we will share what we have with the rest of the class”. After the drawing, the kids began to share:

I'm thankful for trees because they give me oxygen.
… for my parents because they help me with my homework.
… for chocolate.
A kid drew a hand. “It’s your hand Ms Sanders” recalling how the teacher cares for them.

When it comes to Thanksgiving, it’s easy to miss the obvious.

In the passage, Luke sandwiches a miracle among Jesus' teaching on His kingdom. Jesus heals ten lepers and asks them to show themselves to the priest, but only one (a Samaritan, foreigner) comes back to express gratitude to Him (v15-19).

Now leprosy in the old testament, unlike other diseases, was not just physical but spiritual. It was incurable by man. The person (leper) was considered unclean and not permitted to worship or live among people. (Numbers 5:2, Leviticus 13:45-46)

So if leprosy is incurable by man, this gift of healing must be God thought the Samaritan. Luke’s point: the kingdom of God reveals one giver, and we can trace His gifts back to Him.

Every time we say thank you, we are saying, “God, this one is You! I recognise that You are the giver.”

Reflect & Pray

What gifts can you trace back to God today?

Thank you, Father God, for all your blessings and indescribable gift!

God bless you exceedingly,
Sam.

Psalm 91: A Complete Refuge 3

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Psalm 91: A Guaranteed Refuge 1

Psalm 91 [short series]. Psalm 91 is a commonly known Psalm that often raises doubts (e.g. Does it really apply to our present realities?), gets misinterpreted (e.g. If you trust God, no trouble will come to you) or gets undermined (e.g. It’s all a metaphor). But the message in the Psalm is such a profound encouragement to keep trusting in God because of the kind of refuge that only He can provide. As we will see in a 4 part study, the Psalm shows us why God is the only refuge you can trust (v2), and this is because: His refuge is guaranteed By His greatness: He can. v1, 11-12 By His promise: He will. v4, 14-16 His refuge is complete Through this life. v3-6, 13 Into the next life. v7-10, 16 His Refuge is guaranteed by His Greatness! Psalm 91:1, 11-12 He can always rescue! T

In Christ is all we need

Luke 5:1-11 NIV; 2 Peter 1:3 NIV. Praise God! Happy new year!!! One time, I was meeting friends for a game of badminton. When I arrived at the court, I noticed I had come with the wrong bag. I planned to play in shorts, but I played in trousers, and my very competitive friends were not merciful. Peter described the Christian life almost like my backpack experience, except that he made the right switch. He picked the one that had all he needed for his journey. In Luke's passage (Luke 5:1-11 NIV), he records Peter's first meeting with Jesus. It was at a time when he had toiled all night but couldn't catch any fish. So he parked his boat by the seashore. But when Jesus saw Peter's boat, he got into it and used it to teach the crowd the word of God - to meet their spiritual needs. Again, in displaying his divine miraculous power, he used the boat to provide much fish - to meet the physical needs of Pet

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