(Luke 17:11-19)
How often do we pray, asking God to help
us with a need in our life, and in His mercy our prayer is answered. The
real question for today is, after we get our answer, how often do we spend time
just giving Him the praise and thanks He deserves? Mankind really has
changed little over the years. In today's scripture, we read about the ten
lepers who were healed, yet only one came back to give Jesus thanks. It is
easy to read that passage and condemn the other nine, yet each one of us has
probably been guilty of receiving God's blessings and not being as thankful
as we should be. We can get to a place in our walk with the Lord where we
are used to His blessings. We can get to a place where we expect His
blessings. As His children, we should enjoy the rich blessings of God in
our life and live a life of faith expecting Him to bless us. The problem
comes when we take His blessings for granted and aren't as thankful as we
should be. We must never forget, we are blessed by His grace...not because
we deserve to be blessed.
Today's message is not difficult or hard to understand. If nothing else,
let it be a reminder to you to never take God's blessings in your life for
granted. More important, never forget to show your gratitude for all He
does for you each day. Growing up, young children are taught to say please
and thank you. It is not only good manners to say thank you, but should be
something we want to do. We pray, believe, trust, and see God work...the
natural reaction should be one of gratitude. Our praise and thanksgiving
should flow from a grateful heart for what He has done for us. The reminder
today is to never forget that when God is blessing you, it is because He
loves you and cares for you. The natural response to that love should be
to love Him, adore Him, and give Him the thanks He is due. Check yourself
and
make sure you are not like the nine who took their blessing and went on with
their life, but like the one who was grateful for what the Lord did for
him.
It is out of love and caring for you that I write these words today. I
pray that you continue to grow closer in your relationship to the Lord.
Like
any relationship, it doesn't happen overnight, but grows day by day. I can
promise you that the most exciting days are still ahead. He has a perfect
plan for each one of His children, and it is our job to stay close to Him
so that He can work through our lives to reach others. I will be praying
today that you will stay in that close, intimate, daily relationship with
Christ
that is the key to our life. Never forget that when you get off-track,
overwhelmed by the problems this life can present...I will be here to help
you. It is no accident you are getting the Devotionals each day, and God
is doing His best to speak to you through them. He loves you so much and so
do I. You are never alone.
I want to say a special thanks to the Lord today for how He moved in the
midst of the recent General Conference of the United Methodist Church. I
grew up and was saved in he United Methodist Church, and even though I am
now part of a non-denominational fellowship, still pray for that great
church. Their recent stand against ordaining homosexuals and reaffirmation
that the homosexual lifestyle was in direct contradiction to God's plan,
was a wonderful answer to prayer. The fact these even became issues is the
best example I can give you today of what happens when we don't accept the
Bible
as God's inspired, inerrant Word and ABSOLUTE TRUTH. So praise God and may
we all continue to take a stand not on what we think, but what God says.
