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Faith

A Mind-blowing lesson from Jesus’ healing of leprous man; He touches the leprous

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Consider how embarrassing it would be if the Queen of England was discovered befriending beggars. Imagine how it would be for the Oba of Benin or the Emir of Kano to be found in local bars with locals. Strange right? Now, imagine the King of Kings, Jesus, being found with the lowest class of people in His day.

Jesus was found with those who society rejected, from fishermen to tax collectors to prostitutes to insane people to blind beggars. He was not embarrassed to be in the company of outcasts.

Jesus feels at ease among those who have been marginalized by society. He has no hesitation about identifying with those who are struggling, spiritually blind, or sick in any aspect of their lives.

Here is one of the numerous instances where Jesus demonstrates His undiscriminating love for mankind;

Matthew 8:1 When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. 2 A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.”

3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.

In Jewish culture, lepers were considered unclean and were ostracized from society. They were not permitted to live among people and whoever touched them was considered unclean as well.As a result, they were stigmatized and treated as lower-class people.

I can imagine how the leper felt seeing everyone avoid him due to his condition. I can imagine it because I’ve been through something similar before. I know what it’s like to be treated like a scumbag because of how life has treated me. I know what it’s like to be scorned and abandoned when you need people the most.
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Do you know how it feels? To have visible spots on your character, health or mind that you refuse to wash away. And because they are visible, no one wants to be with you. You are left alone!

That is the climax of whatever punishment you want to give to a person. Even God said it is not good for man to be alone. We were never created to be alone.

But there is a way the circumstances of life will treat you, you will be considered unattractive by many. And you will be left alone. Left alone to ponder on the misery of your situation. Left alone to beg for food to eat. Left alone to live for survival.

The leper was left alone because of a leprosy that was never his fault! Have you ever gone through battles you did not cause? Have you ever found yourself in tough situations you know you did not deserve? This leper was in such situation.

But one day, Jesus was passing the very place the leper was. And the leper ran to meet Him. This is where some of us fail as believers. I wish I had done this earlier. Some of us run from Jesus instead of running to Him.

We do not want him to see our leprosy so we either run from Him or try to hide our leprosy.

So in Church, we act like holy saints when we are dying in sin within. We shout ‘praise the Lord’ when we are doubting God within.

We dance in Church and cry at home. We smile in public and mourn in secret. We put on a false appearance because we afraid of being judged or condemned like in the past.

But Jesus does not condemn 😥Isaiah 42:3 says, ‘A bruised weed he will not break’.

Men condemn and abandon because that is the only thing they can do. They have no power to change, deliver or heal. But Jesus is our savior. He can mend the broken hearts and set the oppressed free!

The Leper asked for healing.

I was walking home (Benin, Edo state, Nigeria) one day, and a very little girl ran to me. She was dirty looking and had a very bad odor oozing off her mouth.

She also had a pus on her face. Obviously, she was a beggar. I was so irritated by her appearance that I crossed to the other side of the road just to avoid having to look at her.

I was disgusted by the appearance of a beggar with a little pulse. Imagine how Jesus is supposed to have felt being close to a man with stinking LEPROUSY! Any other person would run away, but Jesus stayed. Because He is not disgusted by our leprosy. In fact, our leprosy is the reason He wants to be with us.

He came for the sick, remember? Luke 5:32.

And He touched the leper. No man had ever touched the leper for years, but Jesus did, and His touch healed the leper.

Jesus wants to touch you. He said to the leper, ‘I am willing’ (Matthew 8:3). Jesus is willing to heal you. He is willing to make you whole again.

What is your ‘leprosy’? Depression. Anxiety. Fears, even doubts. Confusion. Uncertainty. Today you feel you believe God and the next day, you are on the verge of losing hope.

You are the exact person wants to touch. He is the physician looking for the sick. The Advocate looking for the condemned. The Light looking for darkened hearts (John 8:12). The healer looking for wounded souls (Matthew 8:16). The High Priest looking for sinful lives (Hebrews 4:14)

All you have to do is open up your heart, your heart, your weaknesses to Him. Welcome His presence into your life and trust Him not to make you better, but to make you NEW.

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Nwodo Divine

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Ministry, Spirituality

Live Love

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Image Credit: Crosswalk


The supreme revelation of God was unveiled to us in 1 John 4:8:
“…. God is love”.


Unfortunately, the word, ‘Love’ is a word which has been wrongly defined, misused and misinterpreted by people.



Love, to the fallen man, is a feeling – a good feeling one has for another. This mediocre definition is a contributing factor to the numerous divorces found in American homes.



But for the Saint, love is not a mere feeling; neither is it an idea. For the Saint, Love is a nature, heart and life of benevolence, charity and kindness to humanity.


Adamic love is conditional. But Agape love – the love we are commanded to show to man – is unconditional.



Are you living this life of Love?


When your heart is lain bare before several eyes, what will be seen? Will it be a heart clothed with divine love, or a heart hardened with hate?


The Love of Christ was what made Him to leave the pleasures of Heaven to partake in man’s humanity, for our liberation.



Romans 5:8: “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” {NLT}


God expressed His love for us through the sacrifice of His beloved Son.


By that act, God created a precedent, a standard and an ordinance, to govern Christian living.



It is no secret that this is a tough season for nations around the world.

Even the world’s global power, USA, is experiencing a steady decline in its national economic strength.

Millions around the world are dying daily. Hope is fading away, like the setting of the sun.


Music therapy is no longer working. Motivational speeches are no longer antidepressants. Who shall the world turn to?



Jesus answered this question when He said, ‘We are the light of the world’.
The Church is God’s light meant to illuminate the darkened hearts and hopeless lives of people.



We do this by showing and expressing the Love of Christ to them.



This Love must be lived, not just in the Church, but even outside the Church. It must be felt by our neighbours and friends.



A religious scholar once posed this question to Jesus:



“Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”


Jesus answered him, “‘Love the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you.’ {TPT}



“This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is like it in importance: ‘You must love your friend in the same way you love yourself.’ Contained within these commandments to love you will find all the meaning of the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 23:36-40 {TPT}


The greatest commandment that Christ gave the church is to love God and to love humanity.


Some believers are full of so much hate that they actually desire the eternal destruction of those who hate them; whereas, God’s Word tells us that He does not want anyone to perish.



“Now, this is the goal: to live in harmony with one another and demonstrate affectionate love, sympathy, and kindness toward other believers. Let humility describe who you are as you dearly love one another.” 1 Peter 3:8.


The core value of the Church is Love. Every other value and principle is built upon it.



The same way Christ expressed the love of The Father to man, is the same way The Church, must express and exemplify Agape love to humanity.






“Beloved children, our love can’t be an abstract theory we only talk about, but a way of life demonstrated through our loving deeds. We know that the truth lives within us because we demonstrate love in action, which will reassure our hearts in his presence.” 1 John 3:17.


Real love is an action. Real Love is overwhelming; it is a tangible phenomenon.


Love is more of a verb than a noun.

Love is seen by actions and not by mere words. Real love will push you to the undeveloped nations of Africa to provide spiritual, emotional and financial edification to humanity.

It will cause you to give to the poor and needy. When there is true love in one, one’s smile becomes a healing balm to the wounded.


Manifest God’s Love today!



Written by Greenhills Emmanuel Amarayahweh

Christmas

Gleaning from The Magi’s Journey

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Matthew 2:1: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem”

Matthew 2:2: “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.“




The Magi’s Victory to Jesus is one of the most popular Christmas stories ever told. Due to its commonness and frequent retelling, one might lose the lessons God in the story, which made the writer include it in his book.

There are several lessons which we can learn from the Magi’s story. I will be highlighting only a few, which I feel, are needed in a time as this.

I would to God, that you take time out to study the events relating to the Conception and birth of Jesus, in your private hour.



GLEANING FROM THE MAGI’S STORY

PERSEVERANCE:


In the first verse, we are told that these men came all the way from The East, unto Jerusalem. In the Bible days, the East was used to refer to countries like Saudi Arabia, Persia (present day Iran) and Babylon.

These men travelled all the way from one of these places, on foot, in the desert, seeking to worship an unseen Baby-King.

All they saw was the Star. They did not have the prophecies of the King’s birth like the Scribes. They were not Israelites who were desperately in need of a King, to save them from the tyranny of Herod.

But when they saw the star in the sky, they left all they had. They left their businesses, friends and families, and set out to seek the one to whom the star belonged.

They were not satisfied merely gazing at the star. They were not satisfied with merely knowledge of what the star signified. They followed the star in search of the King.

Do not settle for less in your Pursuit of the King. The star was beautiful, glorious and outstanding, but it wasn’t the object of their Worship. It was only a guide to lead them unto the King.

Going to Church. Observing the Sabbath. Observing the communion. These things are significant and unique Christian sacraments which must be taken with utmost sacredness. Yet, you must not end your piety in them.

You must journey from merely going to church out of habit, to going to church out of love for God.

You must journey from merely keeping the Sabbath, to having a personal knowledge of the Lord of the Sabbath.

You must journey from taking the communion with Reverence, to having intimate, reverential relationship with the one whose flesh and blood we feed on at the communion table.

The Wise Men saw the star, and they journeyed to Jerusalem, seeking for the King who had been born.

They went to Jerusalem, because they felt that was where kings were born. But, when they inquired there, they found out that the Israelites had no idea whether a King had been born.

They knew a king would be born. They wanted the King to be born, to deliver them from Herod’s government. But when he was born, none of them were aware of it.

Even when they had the prophecy of Daniel’s weeks to help them know the exact time and location of the King’s birth, they were unaware of his birth.



Isn’t this the plight of many Christians, cry out for God’s move, but when His Move comes, they are caught unawares and unprepared.

But the Unpreparedness and ignorance of the Jews did not quench the zeal of the wise men in finding the king.

The lacklustre service of other saints should not be a reason for you to slack in zeal and fervency.

News of the Magi’s inquiry got to Herod’s palace. He sent for the scholars of the law, and from the scriptures, they were able to tell the exact location of the Newly born King.

No matter how zealous a saint is in pursuing the things of God, he must be careful not to pursue them in ignorance, else we’ll find ourselves before the palace of evil men such as Herod.

We must serve the Lord with knowledge and Understanding. In our walk with Him, His Word must be the lamp to illuminate our darkness; the star to guide us to the King and the anchor to hold unto in the storm.



After hearing from the scholars, the Magi continued on their journey towards the saviour. They never stopped until they found Him and worshipped Him.

May we not be wearied before we step our feet on the finished line!

May we be unrelenting and unflinching until we have accomplished the task the Lord has given us!

The Magi had the option of giving their Gifts to someone to give to the saviour on their behalf.

But their minds were made up.

‘We rest not return until we see the saviour with our own eyes’

May we conform to the perseverance of these wise men.

The Saint must not rest until the day when He sees His King face to face.

He must not stop praying. He must not stop reading his Bible. He must not stop observing the Sabbath. He must not stop giving his offerings and preaching the Gospel, until the day, when He shall meet with the Saviour vis-a-vis.

And even as he is on Earth, he must not settle for anything less than a personal acquaintance with the Lord.



Job 22:21 (NISV) “Get to know God, and you’ll be at peace with him, and then prosperity will come to you.”


___________

Many are celebrating Christmas, but only a few know the CHRIST in the Christmas.

Many are celebrating the Season, but the Lord knows the few who actually know the reason for the season.

As we draw nearer to Christmas, take a personal decision, like those wise men, that from henceforth, you will seek to God with all your heart, your soul and your body.

God bless you.


Merry Christmas!