GIVE THANKS DAILY

Luke 17:18 "There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger."

LUKE 17:11-18

Relatively few people who receive the goodness of the Lord return to give Him thanks for what He has done. That does not keep the Lord from doing what is right for us. He healed all ten of these lepers according to their request - not just the one who was thankful. However, there was only one out of the ten that was made "whole."

The Lord desires that we prosper in spirit, soul, and body. He wants us to be whole - not just healed. Part of the reason God meets our physical needs is to prove to us His willingness and ability to meet our emotional and spiritual needs. The Lord is concerned about our temporal needs (Mt. 6:30), but He is even more concerned about our eternal needs. All of these lepers needed physical healing and the Lord was moved with compassion and met their need.

Step out of the Crowd

Written by Brigitte Straub

Do you feel isolated, hurt or afraid and have no one to talk to? Talk to us.

“When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him. And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him saying, ‘Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.’”. (Mathew 8:1-2, NKJV)

In the ancient world, leprosy was a terrible, destructive disease – and it still is in some parts of the world.  According to Jewish customs, one had to keep six feet from a leper. If the wind was blowing toward a person from a leper, they had to keep 150 feet away. The only thing more defiling than contact with a leper was contact with a dead body.

TOUCHED BY LOVE

Mark 1:41, "And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him.... and he was cleansed."

MATTHEW 8:1-4, MARK 1:40-45, LUKE 5:12-15

Only Mark records this important statement that Jesus was "moved with compassion" in the healing of this leper. 

There are three other instances in the gospels when Jesus was moved with compassion which resulted in healing (Mt. 14:14; 20:34; Lk. 7:13; and once in deliverance - Mk.5:19). The difference between seeing a person healed or not healed many times is this all-important ingredient of love.

All three of the Gospel accounts record Jesus touching this leper. This not only illustrates the doctrine of "laying on of hands", but was probably included because according to Numbers 19:22, this action would have made Jesus unclean. This illustrates the New Testament ministry of the Spirit versus the Old Testament ministry of the letter of the law (2 Cor. 3:6).

HEALING IS GOD'S WILL

Matthew 8:2, "And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." MATTHEW 8:1-4

Leprosy was a hated disease and its symptoms are described in detail in Leviticus 13:1-46. This leper believed Jesus could heal him, but doubted His willingness to heal him. Jesus showed him His willingness to heal, and since He is no respecter of persons, He established a precedent for us (Rom. 2:11). This leper did not know God's will concerning healing, but this is not the case with us. The Word of God is the will of God, and it reveals that it is always God's will to heal.

Isaiah 53:5, makes it clear that when Isaiah said "with his stripes we are healed", he was speaking of the physical healing of our bodies. Jesus provided for physical healing as well as forgiveness of sins. The very word "save" (Gk.-"sozo") is translated "made whole" in reference to physical healing in Matthew 9:22, Mark 5:34, and Luke 8:48. James 5:15 says, "the prayer of faith shall save (Gk.-"sozo") the sick." 

Who Touched Me? The Unclean Woman Healed by Jesus

Dr. Julie Barrier

Did you see the way I was walking? That’s the way I used to walk all the time. I used to be so weak. Not now. Not anymore. I’m Miriam. No, not THAT Miriam, Moses’ sister. She’s been dead about 1,000 years, I think. Anyway, I’m the one they used to call “unclean,” “dirty,” untouchable. You heard about me, didn’t you? Well, now you can call me Miriam the Healed Woman. I’m HEALED! You can touch me now. Go on, touch me!

This is my story: I married Simeon, and we were happy at first. I expected to have at least 3 children, but I never did conceive even one. I was so disappointed, and Simeon wasn’t happy about it at all. Men want sons. AND daughters. People here in Capernaum looked at me either with pity or suspicion, because we Jews believe that if a woman doesn’t conceive, she’s been cursed by God. I didn’t understand why God would curse me, so I kept hoping for a baby. It never happened. Then after one monthly cycle, the flow just kept on going. It wouldn’t stop.

Don't Just Sit There...Arise!

"Now four men who were lepers were at the entrance of the city's gate; and they said to one another, Why do we sit here until we die.... So they arose." (2 Kings 7:3,5, The Amplified Bible)

No matter how bad the problem is you may be facing today, no matter how far under the circumstances you may be, in 24 hours you can be back on top!

"Oh, Brother Copeland, that would be impossible!"

That's what the Samaritans thought in 2 Kings 7. Their land was being ravaged by famine. Enemy troops had surrounded them and cut off all source of supply. Mothers were eating their own children just to survive.

HEALING : One Out of Ten

Luke 17:11-19

Ten men came to Jesus. At first, at a distance, as they would with anyone, so that their skin disease wouldn't scare them off. But then, they made their plea for help. Jesus sees this, and gives them instructions, which they follow: show yourselves to the priests, you'll be clean before you get there. Result: all ten left to do as required, and as they were leaving, all of them were being cured of the disease.


However, one of them turned around (Greek hypostrephô). No little term here: in Acts 22:13-17, the apostle Paul uses it to describe his own change of life direction. The one leper came back to thank Jesus, throwing himself at Jesus' feet. That's not just thanks, it's worship; it's not just that, it's touch. It's a level of closeness that the man hadn't experienced since getting the disease. Jesus then says, "Your faith has made you well".


What did Jesus mean by that? All ten were cured, made clean of the disease. No small act for even a celebrated healer, and no small thing for any of the ten men, a turning point in their lives. But only the one who turned away from everything else and gave full-out praise, only that one was declared "well". By way of his worship of Jesus, he opened up to God's wide panorama of what it means to be made whole. Notice that he's not thanking the other nine lepers, nor was he heaping praise on the strangers around him, not even of the disciples who were with Jesus - the ones Jesus originally was addressing at the start of this scene. No. He went back 'praising God', and 'thanked' Jesus - to him, the two things were pretty much the same. This now ex-leper saw, and understood. He was no longer one among the label 'the sick', no longer one of ten in misery that was company. He was himself - finally! And he knew who he belonged with. The act of returning to Jesus was an act of faith, and that faith made him "well" - wholly a part not only of the society around him, but also the Kingdom of God, which is the very definition of what it means to be "well" and whole. God is not just paying attention, but is hard at work all of human life. The ex-leper now knew this from his own skin. There was no separation of being healed of a medical illness and spiritual healing, to him it was all just healing, and he was joyous over it. He goes, but not just in a self-beneficial obedience like the other nine. He goes as living, breathing evidence of Jesus' ministry and work on earth and beyond.


This sense of being "well" comes in the context of the kingdom. In the immediate case, it means wellness in the context of core matters and acts of faith, such as confession and forgiveness, bearing one's cross, and self-giving to others.

http://www.spirithome.com/healings.html#godtalk