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.

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...

Disciples are Blessed

Matthew 5:1-12 NIV. [Series on: The Blessed] How would you describe a blessed and happy life? One of my friends believes there’s only one happy person each week, the lottery winner, and the rest of us just have make-believe happiness. Maybe you share my friend's view or have your own picture of happiness. The Bible also has its own picture, and in this short series on the Blessed we'll see who are the blessed of Scripture. In today's passage, Jesus gathers His disciples to the mountainside, away from the crowd and teaches them what a truly blessed and happy life—beatitude—looks like. Jesus shows that a blessed life is the life of a disciple, those who are: Poor in spirit (v3, Psalm 42:1; 63:1): who depend on God in everything. Mourning (v4, Isaiah 61:2-3): who seek God’s rescue/forgiveness by repentance. Meek (v5, Psalm 37:9-11): who humbly wait for the Lord amidst life’s ...

In trials, Be Holy!

1 Peter 1:13-2:3 NIV. Knowing the joyful truths from the last session about our faith, Peter then goes on to say, therefore...be holy! (v13). Being holy means to live a God-centred life. It looks like not conforming to ungodly desires (v14, 2v1) but setting our minds on the eternal things of God (v13, 2v2), living in reverent fear of God (v17) and loving God's people (v22). This cuts against the grain of the me-centred worldview of life. It is, therefore, no surprise that every trial and distraction in life combats any attempt at living a God-centred life. So how do we respond? Peter's encouragement in verse 15 is: be holy in all you do — keep being holy, continue (2 Timothy 3:12-13). In trials, be holy for three profound reasons - all based on the very nature of God. In trials, we are to be holy (keep being, continue to be) because: God is holy. Verse 16 says "Be holy, bec...

A Devotional Life

Search This Blog