I was reading Luke 17 this morning of the classic story of Jesus healing the 10 lepors and only one of them came back to say thanks. Here is how my reflection time went:
Lord, I am so thankful for the healing in my life and the healing that you are still doing in my life, in fact, you won't stop the healing process until you come (Philippians 1:6). So Jesus, i am at your feet today giving you glory for your love over my life and brokenness. And truthfully, there is a part of me that just wants to stay here but I caught something that I had never thought about before, but that is what Jesus says after this specific leper is at His feet! "Where are the other 9? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?" But here is where I was challenged..."stand up and go." So, in Scripture, the word stand signifies that there is work to be done. When Jesus completed His mission, He sat next to His Father. You sit when the work is done. You stand when there is work to be done. Jesus says, "stand up" - still work to be done? "And go." Go! Go means don't stay here. Go means travel somewhere else...just not here. Woa. And then it hit me, maybe I should stand up go find the other 9 and share with them the reality and truth of what truly happened to all of us. We deserved leprosy because we are sinners and what we really didn't deserve is to be healed, but Jesus healed us because that is who He is. He is love. He is healer. He healed us and I think we need to live a life of worship and thankfulness to Him. We live a life of serving and striving to help others see the miracle of Jesus' love. Let's catch Jesus' heart in this moment and that He wishes that no one depart from knowing Him. Isaiah had it, after being healed in Isaiah 6, the Lord said who will "stand and go for me" (my paraphrase) and Isaiah said, Lord send me...and Isaiah went. Do we truly understand what Jesus has done?
My faith has healed me and I now I want to stand and go...
Friday, March 23, 2018
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Passion Warning!
I love David for his passion. And passion is very contagious, but at the same time, passion can lead to messiness! 1 Chronicles 13 proves this point and shows us the warning:
David is broken because the Ark of Covenant is not in its correct spot. His heart is broken because God's Glory is not being properly embraced by God's people. David wants the Ark here and he wants God to be praised. Friends, that is passion but sometimes passion leads to messiness. Look at what happens next...they were in a hurry to get the Ark here and the passion was so intense that David stepped over the commands from Deuteronomy and Exodus about how the Ark was to be carried. If you read Deuteronomy 10:8 and Deuteronomy 18:5 you would read these Words - "at that time THE LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark..." Then in Exodus 25 you will read about the fact that the Ark should be carried with poles inside of rings...it says nothing about an ox. Thus, David's crazy passion, the use of "technology" and not honoring the Levities lead to punishment and poor Uzzah dies. David lays low for a bit and then all of a sudden the Philistines come at Him and the Lord blesses Him. That just blows my mind. David and God don't miss a beat with each other even though David was very foolish. God is utterly amazing, like for real!!!
Then David goes back to the Ark being present here, so guess what he does? 1 Chronicles 15:2 - "no one but the Levities are to carry the Ark of God. The Lord has chosen them to CARRY the ARK..." He obeys the commands of the Law and honors the Lord properly with his passion and now the fun part:
Once the Ark is in place, David dances out of his mind. His passion comes out big time and there were some, who couldn't fully embrace it. David doesn't mind because David knows that his worship is about the Glory of God and no one can stop him from that. How beautiful! His passion in this moment is perfect! Passion is a beautiful gift but it needs to fall under the umbrella of God's direction as well. I know, because I can't tell you how many times my passion has caused messiness in my life. Uggh! But nonetheless, I want to be a passionate person because it is how He wired me and I come alive when I can be passionate for His Glory. I am learning as David learned. I am thankful that God doesn't give up on me but keeps shaping and molding me into His likeness. Amen.
David is broken because the Ark of Covenant is not in its correct spot. His heart is broken because God's Glory is not being properly embraced by God's people. David wants the Ark here and he wants God to be praised. Friends, that is passion but sometimes passion leads to messiness. Look at what happens next...they were in a hurry to get the Ark here and the passion was so intense that David stepped over the commands from Deuteronomy and Exodus about how the Ark was to be carried. If you read Deuteronomy 10:8 and Deuteronomy 18:5 you would read these Words - "at that time THE LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark..." Then in Exodus 25 you will read about the fact that the Ark should be carried with poles inside of rings...it says nothing about an ox. Thus, David's crazy passion, the use of "technology" and not honoring the Levities lead to punishment and poor Uzzah dies. David lays low for a bit and then all of a sudden the Philistines come at Him and the Lord blesses Him. That just blows my mind. David and God don't miss a beat with each other even though David was very foolish. God is utterly amazing, like for real!!!
Then David goes back to the Ark being present here, so guess what he does? 1 Chronicles 15:2 - "no one but the Levities are to carry the Ark of God. The Lord has chosen them to CARRY the ARK..." He obeys the commands of the Law and honors the Lord properly with his passion and now the fun part:
Once the Ark is in place, David dances out of his mind. His passion comes out big time and there were some, who couldn't fully embrace it. David doesn't mind because David knows that his worship is about the Glory of God and no one can stop him from that. How beautiful! His passion in this moment is perfect! Passion is a beautiful gift but it needs to fall under the umbrella of God's direction as well. I know, because I can't tell you how many times my passion has caused messiness in my life. Uggh! But nonetheless, I want to be a passionate person because it is how He wired me and I come alive when I can be passionate for His Glory. I am learning as David learned. I am thankful that God doesn't give up on me but keeps shaping and molding me into His likeness. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)