surefooted

Because of Covid-19, we're living in times of uncertainty and fear, which makes it easy for us to focus on our own immediate needs. I had been fearful and introspective about many things, but the Lord recently reminded me to give Him thanks for the things that He has blessed me with (and they are many!). This is important because it has helped me to put my trust in Him: in other words, to have faith. The Israelites, on the other hand, didn't and look where it got them, and then there were the 9 lepers... In Luke 17 only one leper returned to give thanks to Jesus, and Jesus said to him, "Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well." Does this mean the other 8 lepers who didn't return were no longer healed? No. I believe their healing was not revoked. But the leper that returned, Jesus said to him, "...Your faith has made you well." Now why would Jesus waste His breath and state the obvious? The word for "well" here is SOZO which means save, saved, whole, healed, preserved or well. Jesus's ultimate mission is the ministry of reconciliation: to save that which was lost (Luke 4:18-19), that we might not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). To be saved, you need faith. To have faith is to have a personal revelation of who Jesus is. Jesus performed many miracles and healing so that people might believe in (see) Him. By returning and falling down at Jesus's feet worshipping Him, this one leper had faith. Unfortunately the other 8 were only interested in the healing and not in the Messiah. By showing gratitude this one grateful leper received not only fleeting healing but also eternal salvation, because he saw that Jesus was more than just a prophet, a healer or a rabbi who healed people. By giving thanks, he received a personal revelation of Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. We should be like this one returning leper, especially during these trying times, lest we become like the 8 lepers or the Israelites... Don't ever stop. Hallelujah! Praise Jesus!!

The other day I left my trash outside my front door, intending to put it out on the street half an hour later. When I finally decided to remove it from the front door, it was gone. My neighbor had put it out for me. Another time, I had already put the trash out the night before and as I left for work the next morning I saw that some animal had ripped the side of my trash bag open and some of the contents were lying on the ground. My neighbor was also on her way to work. I moved towards the bag to clean up the mess but she was already there before me and cleaned up the mess as I got there. What neighborly kindness! And to think that a few years earlier she did not want to sell her house to us at all, the house that we're living in right now. We're grateful everyday for this lovely home, a gift from God, but that's another story! Praise God!

When I was a baby Christian, I was taught that if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you will see miracles. Then, years later, in a bible study a friend asked: why did Jesus say to His disciples that they could not cast out the demon with their little faith, and then immediately said that if they had faith as small as a mustard seed they could move mountains? My friend couldn't see the logic in this and neither could I. My friend was using the NIV version, but mine was the New King James, which says: "Because of your unbelief (little faith); for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matt. 17:20 NKJV This means Jesus compared faith to a mustard seed: ... faith like a mustard seed. So I cross referenced this passage to the parable of the mustard seed: "The kingdom of heaven is as a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." Matt 13:31-32 NKJV In this parable the mustard seed, although the smallest of all, it grows and grows to become a great tree that provides shelter for all. And so should it be with our faith. Jesus does not marvel at little faith, but at great faith, like that of the centurion. The mustard seed grows into a large tree to serve and so must we. Let us keep on growing!