Easter Devotion (Day 21) - Thankfulness

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”
When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 17:11-19

What do you have to be grateful for? So often, we live our lives taking simple but profound blessings for granted. We can become blind to the ordinary miracles in our lives. 

Luke 17:15 says that when the leper in this story saw that he had been healed, he returned to Jesus to praise God. There are three important elements to this one verse. First, the leper recognized the miracle of his healing and transformed life. Second, he recognized that this miracle was because of God's undeserved and extravagant grace, and he was grateful. Third, he recognized that God had acted through Jesus and understood Him to be God's ambassador. These realizations were what ultimately saved this man from something much more profound than leprosy. His faith was how Jesus Christ saved him from sin and death. 

Even as we struggle through life, we experience ordinary miracles. In order to live as disciples, we must open our eyes to the ways that God blesses us. Understanding those blessings causes us to be grateful for God's constant grace. When we truly are aware of the ways that we are touched daily by the grace of God, our faith compels us to praise God and thank His Son, Jesus Christ.

A book that does a wonderful job of showing the importance of thanksgiving in a believers' life is One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. In it she recommends keeping a thanksgiving journal in which you write down daily at least ten things you are thankful for. You can then use those items to remind you to thank God daily for all He has done and is doing in your life. 
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 
1 Thessalonians 5:18


Prayer: Lord, open my eyes to Your blessings and open my mouth in praise! May I never let a day go by without offering up thanks to You for all You have done for me. I am so undeserving. Thank you Lord for loving me! In Your Son's precious name, Amen

* This devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 20) - Jesus, Our Healer

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
James 5:13-18

As I write this, a young woman I know who has been surrounded by love and prayer is near death, a victim of cancer. This passage is particularly difficult in a situation like this, because James says that if you pray with faith, the sick will be restored to health. But everyone eventually dies. How could this verse be true?

Verse 15 which speaks of the sick person being made well uses the Greek word astheneia, which literally means "without strength." This could be physical, spiritual, or emotional strength. In a society where physical disease was very often seen as punishment for sin, James' call to gather to pray for those who were ill in any sense of the word could be considered radical. It was - and often still is - much easier to leave the sick behind. In today's society, where we usually understand that physical ailments are not related to our characters, we are more supportive. But what about mental illnesses or those who suffer spiritually? Are we eager to keep them within the community of the church?

The young woman I know has been strengthened and uplifted by the prayers of her faith community. The cancer is killing her body, but it has not destroyed her spirit. She has truly been raised up in prayer and made strong in Christ through the prayers of the righteous. 

Prayer: Lord, may those I name in my heart feel Your healing power. Heal today those who are hurting but physically, spiritually and emotionally, according to Your will. May I be an instrument of that healing. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen

* Devotion taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 19) - Faith in God

 In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. Peter remembered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!”
“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Mark 11:20-25 

Some years ago, I was in a Bible study during a time when one of the members had recently fallen from a roof. He was near death, and based on this verse, the study leader told us if we prayed for his recovery and did not doubt, he would be healed. When he died, it shook the faith of many of the members. 

Where was our miracle? We had confused confidence in prayer with believing we had the ability to manipulate God through prayer. Believing that the outcome of prayers is based on the intensity of our faith means that we believe our powers are greater than God's own will. Prayer is not a one-way communication where we make demands of God. Rather, it is when we open ourselves to God's claim on us and we respond obediently to God's guidance. 

However, the requests in the Lord's Prayer are things we can already claim as our own. These are an intimate relationship with God; membership in God's Kingdom, which has been established by Jesus on earth; the earth's bounty; and forgiveness and deliverance. God has already given us unlimited love, forgiveness and grace, and will empower us to glorify His kingdom. 

Prayer: Lord, bring me into a deeper prayer relationship with You, so that my desires become Your desires. May I never try to manipulate You with my prayers but instead, always trust in Your good judgment and Your perfect plan for my life and this world. I trust You Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen. 


* Devotion taken from The Sanctuary For Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 18) - Ask, Seek, Knock

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Luke 11:9-13 

When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, His answer was not only a prayer but a lesson on the character of God. God, the Creator and Designer of the cosmos, wants us to approach Him like a father. He wants us to work for His Kingdom and to care for others. He wants us to come to Him humbly, aware of our sins but grateful for His grace. 

Jesus promises that those who seek God will find God; those who ask God, not for themselves, but for the Kingdom, will receive; and those who wish to be invited into the steadfast love of God's family will be welcomed. These assurances are all related to the requests in the Lord's Prayer. These are things that we can all pray for confidently, knowing that God wishes only that which is the very best for us. God answers prayers through the greatest possible blessing: the Holy Spirit. It is where we get our strength, our focus, our perseverance, and our guidance. Notice that our prayers are answered through the Holy Spirit. An answer to prayer is rarely passive, but is the enabling power of the Holy Spirit for us to do God's will on earth. 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the blessing of the Holy Spirit, and give me the confidence, guidance, perseverance, and resources to continually do Your will. Help me to come to You humbly, aware of my sins and so grateful for Your grace. Amen

*Devotions taken from The Sanctuary for Lent 2016 by Sue Mink

Easter Devotion (Day 17) - Lead Us Not Into Temptation

And don't lead us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:13

After praying for physical needs and forgiveness, the third request is for spiritual protection. For centuries, theologians have struggled with the wording of this verse. Why would God lead us into temptation? But Jesus recognized that there were spiritual dangers all around at all times, even in places where we believe we are spiritually safe. The prayer is meant to open our eyes to this reality, help us to be on our guard, and to shield us from harm. As children of the kingdom of God, we must maneuver through a world that is not yet God's kingdom, but is deeply stained by sin. We can never become complacent about threats to our relationship with God.

Spiritual arrogance is dangerous. This prayer puts us face-to-face with our weaknesses. We are hopelessly vulnerable without the protection of God. When we pray this, we ask God to prod us whenever we consider, say or do things that dishonor both us and God. It is a request for guardrails in our daily life, keeping us on the pathway of God's will. It is also a plea that when we fail, God will be there to draw us out of danger and back into His loving care.

Prayer: Lord, alert me about the pitfalls in my life and draw me back into Your care when I fail. open our eyes to this reality, help us to be on our guard, and to shield us from harm. Amen

* This devotion taken from The Sanctuary For Lent 2016 by Sue Mink