Luke 17:11-21
11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
I just went to a funeral and there sure was a lot of talk about the rapture. It's funny but the last time I heard this much talk about it was the last funeral I attended. Someone suggested it is because Trump is in office so the end must be coming soon. I get that except for one thing - all of the people talking about the rapture there voted for Trump. Ha! So it must be something else. I think as people think about death, they want to escape it, and rightfully so because we weren't meant for death, and both my Dad who died and my brother-in-law who died of the slow growing, painful, prostate cancer hoped upon hope that the rapture would come. Unfortunately it didn't. We are commanded to look for the return of Christ so we try to live like it could happen tomorrow. We look for the Kingdom of God coming down from Heaven in the future. However Jesus said the Kingdom of God has already come- "It is in your midst". What is that all about?
The pastor who did his funeral spoke, at Rod's request on Phil.1:21-23
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far...
He said, at the funeral, that everybody emphasizes the part about "dying is gain" and "better by far" and "being with Christ" which is viewing the Kingdom of God in the future. However, they skip over the living part - "for me to live is Christ". This is the part that Jesus is talking about here, "It is in your midst." We were created to be in a relationship with God and when we by faith receive His death on our behalf, our relationship with God has been restored. The sin that previously got in the way has been removed. The problem is that everyone then thinks, "Hooray, I get to go to Heaven when I die." That is true but it is missing out on the relationship right now with God that makes life so great.
We see this with the 10 Lepers. All 10 were healed by God; they received the healing touch or power of God in their lives. How did they get it? They believed and received. Only one of the 10 came back to be in Christ's presence. He bowed before Jesus and worshipped Him. You see, He wanted the relationship now, not at a later date. The pastor at the funeral said something like this, "A lot of people come to Jesus for a good life, Heaven, health, a marriage partner, a good family without fertility problems, or a host of other things. The problem is that when you come to Jesus, the only thing you are promised is Jesus. Are you OK with that?" "For me to live is Christ!" That's what Paul was saying here. Do you have a daily relationship with Christ? Jill Briscoe once said that she goes by the saying, "No Bible, no breakfast." I guess we could call that the "Bible Diet" because a lot of us would lose a lot of weight.
People always respond when I ask them if they have a relationship with God, "I talk to him all the time". That's not a relationship any more than us with the person we try to hide from when we see them coming because they talk our ear off and don't listen to a word we say. Prayer is us talking to God and reading the Bible is Him talking back. Sure, He can talk to us while praying but I have to know the Word to know if that is really something He is saying or just my subconscious. I remember when I was 8 and Wizard of Oz was on Sunday night and I had to miss it every year because of church. I asked my parents if I could skip Church and my Dad said, "Go pray about it and tell me what God says." The words I "heard" from God were, "You can skip this once but next year you better be in Church." Ha! Was that God or me. I have my suspicions and thus the danger of using prayer as the main means to hear from God.
Rod and my Dad both had a vital two way relationship with God. The pastor said that he would often come to visit Rod and encourage him with a Bible verse only to be out-scriptured by Rod. The scary thing is that the 10 Leper story implies that only 1 of these 10 were saved. That is hidden in the Greek word for "well" in verse 19. It is "sozo" which means a healing of the whole person. If you have prayed to receive Christ but are waiting to get to Heaven to have a relationship with Him, you probably missed the Kingdom of God on both ends. Fall afresh at His feet. Worship Him. Get to know Him. Follow Him. It is what you were created for and the only thing worth living for.
Lord thank You that You have welcomed both my Dad and Rod into Heaven. I look forward to seeing them someday as I do You, but I am looking forward to seeing You today and everyday. Amen
I just went to a funeral and there sure was a lot of talk about the rapture. It's funny but the last time I heard this much talk about it was the last funeral I attended. Someone suggested it is because Trump is in office so the end must be coming soon. I get that except for one thing - all of the people talking about the rapture there voted for Trump. Ha! So it must be something else. I think as people think about death, they want to escape it, and rightfully so because we weren't meant for death, and both my Dad who died and my brother-in-law who died of the slow growing, painful, prostate cancer hoped upon hope that the rapture would come. Unfortunately it didn't. We are commanded to look for the return of Christ so we try to live like it could happen tomorrow. We look for the Kingdom of God coming down from Heaven in the future. However Jesus said the Kingdom of God has already come- "It is in your midst". What is that all about?
The pastor who did his funeral spoke, at Rod's request on Phil.1:21-23
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far...
He said, at the funeral, that everybody emphasizes the part about "dying is gain" and "better by far" and "being with Christ" which is viewing the Kingdom of God in the future. However, they skip over the living part - "for me to live is Christ". This is the part that Jesus is talking about here, "It is in your midst." We were created to be in a relationship with God and when we by faith receive His death on our behalf, our relationship with God has been restored. The sin that previously got in the way has been removed. The problem is that everyone then thinks, "Hooray, I get to go to Heaven when I die." That is true but it is missing out on the relationship right now with God that makes life so great.
We see this with the 10 Lepers. All 10 were healed by God; they received the healing touch or power of God in their lives. How did they get it? They believed and received. Only one of the 10 came back to be in Christ's presence. He bowed before Jesus and worshipped Him. You see, He wanted the relationship now, not at a later date. The pastor at the funeral said something like this, "A lot of people come to Jesus for a good life, Heaven, health, a marriage partner, a good family without fertility problems, or a host of other things. The problem is that when you come to Jesus, the only thing you are promised is Jesus. Are you OK with that?" "For me to live is Christ!" That's what Paul was saying here. Do you have a daily relationship with Christ? Jill Briscoe once said that she goes by the saying, "No Bible, no breakfast." I guess we could call that the "Bible Diet" because a lot of us would lose a lot of weight.
People always respond when I ask them if they have a relationship with God, "I talk to him all the time". That's not a relationship any more than us with the person we try to hide from when we see them coming because they talk our ear off and don't listen to a word we say. Prayer is us talking to God and reading the Bible is Him talking back. Sure, He can talk to us while praying but I have to know the Word to know if that is really something He is saying or just my subconscious. I remember when I was 8 and Wizard of Oz was on Sunday night and I had to miss it every year because of church. I asked my parents if I could skip Church and my Dad said, "Go pray about it and tell me what God says." The words I "heard" from God were, "You can skip this once but next year you better be in Church." Ha! Was that God or me. I have my suspicions and thus the danger of using prayer as the main means to hear from God.
Rod and my Dad both had a vital two way relationship with God. The pastor said that he would often come to visit Rod and encourage him with a Bible verse only to be out-scriptured by Rod. The scary thing is that the 10 Leper story implies that only 1 of these 10 were saved. That is hidden in the Greek word for "well" in verse 19. It is "sozo" which means a healing of the whole person. If you have prayed to receive Christ but are waiting to get to Heaven to have a relationship with Him, you probably missed the Kingdom of God on both ends. Fall afresh at His feet. Worship Him. Get to know Him. Follow Him. It is what you were created for and the only thing worth living for.
Lord thank You that You have welcomed both my Dad and Rod into Heaven. I look forward to seeing them someday as I do You, but I am looking forward to seeing You today and everyday. Amen
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