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^[a] 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.”

I shared this past weekend on the passage about the 10 Lepers.  Here are a few things we can gather from the story, I could post a lot but I will be brief.

1. When your in need of your Savior, It’s good to cry out for Him!  Sometimes we just need to open up our mouth’s and cry out to Jesus!

2. Is our Faith in Jesus strong, that we act upon what he is saying to us even though we don’t see naturally it will work? The Lepers, stood on His
word, went without hesitation and were healed.

3. When we are truly thankful, we will throw ourselves at his feet.  Here are two questions  to ponder…. What’s the percentage you stop and throw
yourself at His feet and thank Him for what he has and is doing in your life?  1 out 10 Lepers came back to say thank you. That’s 10%!  What’s the
percentage we stop and say thank you?

There is more I could elaborate on in this passage but that’s for another time!

NCAA football is one of my favorite times of the year. Each team has a rich history and tradition.  I have listed a few for your reading pleasure, Arkansas- Pig Sooie, Hurricanes- Enter the field through Smoke, Texas A&M- American Collie-Revielle, thanks to university for their help during World War II, Oklahoma- the Schooner is still tops. They ride it pregame and ride it after every touchdown. It commemorates the state’s heritage of moving westward. Mississippi-The tradition dates back to a MSU-Ole Miss game where a cow wearing a bell wandered on to the field. The Bulldogs won the game, and the fans have rung cowbells in memory of that upset every since. Georgia Tech – This 1930 Ford Model A sport coupe serves as the mascot for Georgia Tech, leading the football team into the stadium since 1961.  Clemson- It doesn’t look like much. But when you finally make your way inside the gates at Death Valley, the sight of Howard’s Rock is awe inspiring. The Clemson players march down the campus hill, through the gates and touch the two-and-a-half pound rock before trouncing down another hill on to the field. The funny part is that legendary coach Frank Howard received the rock as a gift from a booster in the ’60s and just let it sit in his office for years. In 1966, Howard told staffers to get the rock out of his office. They did, putting it on a pedestal in Memorial Stadium, and laslty,  Notre Dame- Tapping the sign- Play like a champion before they take the field.

Before I leave home, above my back door, I have a sign that reads “Love like you have never been hurt”.  I know it is easier said then done, but it serves as a reminder to me and my wife as we exit our home.  We want the love of Jesus Christ to be evident in our lives every day.  Read John 13:35  below.

King James Bible
By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another
New Living Translation (©2007)
Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples

³¹ As soon as Judas left the room, Jesus said, “The time has come for the Son of Man^[h] to enter into his glory, and God will be glorified because of him. ³² And since God receives glory because of the Son,^[i] he will soon give glory to the Son. ³³ Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. ³⁴ So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵ Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Jesus had just washed their feet, served them communion, identified his betrayer, and loved each of them by his acts of service.   What greater love to serve the one whom would betray him, and take the lowliest job over all servant in their culture by washing their feet.  Some of them where appalled that Jesus would get on his knees, their leader and messiah, and wash their filthy feet.  He did it, in spite of what they said or did.  This was one of many ways Jesus expressed his love to them, and to use.  He knew Judas would betray, and He still served him.  WOW!!!  I don’t know about you but that is some tough stuff.  I know it would be difficult for me to love some I knew was about to hurt me.  Jesus did, and so can we.

The sign above my door reminds me of what the kingdom should be like.  I am not saying suppress your hurts, or let people take advantage of you.   I am saying, however, no matter what, and no matter ho your treated,  Love them as if you have never been hurt.  If Jesus did it, so can we.  So no matter what happens to you, and no  matter what comes your way, no matter what people say,  show them some LOVE!!!!!!!  And as we do, then they will know that we are truly a disciple of Jesus.

Here are a few more scriptures to help us show people Jesus love.

1 John 3:16 (New Living Translation)

¹⁶ We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

1 John 4:20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

2 John 1:5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.

Two chapters prior, because of the wickedness of Ahab and  Jezebel, Elijah declared, from the Lord, the heavens be shut until He would speak otherwise.

When God is judging a nation it often takes the form of a severe drought.  Things become dry, lifeless and hard.  They become of little value.  The people of Israel had rebelled against the Lord and turned to idols.  The drought lasted for quite a while, affecting the lives of a lot of   people.  So he told Ahab, ‘Get ready.  Prepare to celebrate (eat and drink).  The drought is over and rain is coming.’  He said this before there were any visible signs of rain in the air.  Then Elijah goes to pray.  He prays seven times.  After each prayer moment, he sends his servant to look at the sky.  After the first six times, the servant came back to report that NOTHING happened.   For a season as we pray and obey it seems as if all we receive is NOTHING.  During the seasons of NOTHING we need to KEEP our ear tuned to what we heard from God.  We can’t slip into blaming God, leadership, people, or circumstances.  We need to maintain the posture of prayer.

Finally on the seventh time of prayer, the servant returned with good news and bad news.  There is a cloud. That’s the good news.  It’s very small, about the size of a man’s hand.  That’s the bad news.  There is finally a sign but it is not enough.

And it looks very much like something man could do.  God is not limited in our dry season.  God is in the business of making the impossible    possible!  Also, I believe God withdraws himself at times from us, so that we will pursue Him with all our heart.  We feel so dry, but my friends there is a small cloud coming on the horizon, He  begins his supernatural work with the smallest and most  ordinary things.

When the servant turned around to look at the sky, it had turned black with clouds and the winds had begun to blow.  The little (man-sized) cloud had grown to many clouds.  Look up, and see the clouds are filling with rain.  The rain represented the return of the divine favor of God upon His people.

The Lord is sending the rain for you! What was once dry is now saturated with the presence of God.   So if you feel dry, keep praying and know that the rain is on it’s way.  In spite of what you may see or not see, know that your God is sending the rain!

15 Gut-Check Questions for Leaders

I have always found it interesting that I Corinthians 13 is sandwiched in between a chapter having to do with spiritual gifts and speaking in tongues.  I know that all of us have probably heard it read at a wedding, but what if we took this same passage and applied it to our leadership?  (Which, honestly, I think it was written more for church leaders and not wedding ceremonies!)  Here we go…

#1 – “Love Is Patient” – Am I giving others the same room to make mistakes as I want them to give me?

#2 – “Love Is Kind” – Do the people I lead actually like being around me?  (If you want to know the answer to this question, just ask yourself how much they ask to hang out with you outside of work!)

#3 – “It Does Not Envy” – Am I automatically jealous of anyone who has a great idea, and do I constantly perceive others as a threat to my position?  (Another leader struggled with this; it didn’t go well with him – see I Samuel 18:6-9.)  By the way, this is why some young leaders can’t thrive in their current conditions, because the more “mature” leader perceives them as a threat.

#4 – ‘It Does Not Boast” – Do I feel like I always need to remind people of my previous victories?  (If we are obsessed with the past, then we’re not advancing towards the future!)

#5 – “It Is Not Proud” – Do I feel that I am the only one in the organization that has all of the answers?

#6 – “It Is Not Rude” – Am I always cutting people off mid-sentence as soon as I discover that I do not like their idea, or am I willing to hear them out?  (People don’t always have to be right as long as they feel like they’ve been heard.)

#7 – “It Is Not Self Seeking” – Who is this about–really?

#8 – “It Is Not Easily Angered” – Are people afraid to bring me information that is true and accurate because they know I will lose my mind and begin to yell?  (Don’t shoot the mailman!)

#9 – “It Keeps No Record of Wrongs” – Do I remind people of their past failures or encourage them in their current condition?

#10 – “Love Does Not Delight in Evil but Rejoices in the Truth” – Can people be honest and open with anyone in the organization, including me?  (When a leader does not have people around him who will share the truth, he becomes the Emperor who had no clothes!)

#11 – “It Always Protects” – Do I have the back of my staff?  It’s very discouraging to work for someone who demands loyalty but will not extend it.

#12 – “Always Trusts” – Do I believe the people who lead their assigned areas can make day-to-day decisions without my input?

#13 – “Always Hopes” – Do I always automatically assume the worst or the best about people?  It is amazing what can happen on a staff when the leader believes in the people he leads.

#14 – “”Always Perseveres” – Am I quick to give up on people after they make one mistake, or am I willing to teach them through it?

#15 – “Love Never Fails” – Do I have a high turnover OR a low turnover in the number of people who work with me/for me?  (If the number is high, then maybe it isn’t the people failing.)

He continues by saying, we need to “lay aside” or “strip off every weight” that holds us back.  It mentions “ the sin” which is a daily struggle for us all, but there are other things we need to lay aside as well, such as, distractions, friends, family, etc. or whatever else might hold us back from running the race.  It doesn’t mean we disengage, yet we do let go if it is going to   hinder our pursuit of the Lord.

Then in verse 2 he says how we do this, by “keeping our eyes on Jesus” or as other translations say, “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.”  This is a simple truth, but a  vital part of being a disciple.

Discipleship is not a set of rules to follow, but a person to follow and His name is Jesus.  Paul told his readers to “imitate me as I imitate Christ”.

The word “disciple” comes from the word “discipline.”  A disciplined person is one who can do the right thing at the right time, and who can be a good example for others.   Jesus walked what He talked! He lived what He shared.

In a culture that is teaching us to live for ourselves, and compromise to get what we want, may we be a disciplined people that look to Jesus and follow His model.  May we stand up and stand out as He did in His culture.  May our lives be representative of being with Him. And may we truly live, move and have our being in Him. That’s what a true disciple is all about!