I will not be ungrateful but thankful to the Lord

From: April 25- May 1, 2006 Study: # 441

TOPIC: “I will not be ungrateful but thankful to the Lord” Luke 17:12-19 Until this day Jesus has never stopped doing miracles. When we notice this our faith is activated. All miracles glorify God. No man can be glorified because after all, all of us have been leprous in some area of our lives. Only God receives and deserves the glory. Jeremiah 18:15 Says, “Because my people have forgotten me …” We must preserve God’s miracles in our memory so that we will not forget about our God. It is easy to forget God because this world is full of charms to provoke our attention, so that we’ll love this more than our Lord. 2 Timothy 4:10 We were all lepers, we loved and embraced sin, but God had mercy of us. What is God in our lives? He is the Creator, the Healer, the Liberator, the one who gave everything for us. He is who loves us, strengthens us and knows and lives in us. Then, why does His people forget that He is who sustains and cares for our lives and our home? Nothing comes from our own strength but because our powerful God works on our behalf. Why is it so easy to forget all God has given us? If we have something it is because God has worked with his powerful hand. But, men don’t like to live righteously. Humans walk behind vanity giving the glory to what is not important. It is easy to fill the eyes of others. And this is how life becomes vain. We should live solid lives because our lives have been sanctified and we belong to a powerful God. Let us be grateful to the one who deserves all the glory. We must be careful of what we speak and pretend because then we go after what is vain and begin to slip and return to our past. God is who wants to work in us. There is no reason to be confused, we have an eternal life, this earth will pass. Life is complicated and we sometimes give cult to what is vain. God is willing to do great miracles, let us not change this for pure vanity. Only the brave will conquer. Leprosy was an illness that showed that God was displeased, like a punishment. Men's ingratitude is the most common sin. By law leprous person could not live among the rest of the people. But, when Jesus was passing through there were 10 lepers nearby. They were looking for something to eat near the villages because they could not work. They didn't have family and nobody wanted them. They were rejected by everyone. Those men lacked everything. Then Jesus arrived. Jesus has arrived for everyone. They could not come closer to Jesus, the disciples would not allow it. They were far, but when Jesus wants to perform miracles He does it. From the third Heaven he looks toward the earth, His sight doesn’t miss anything. From a distance those men cried to Jesus for mercy. They had something in common, a terrible illness that did not permit equal rights as the rest of the people. We depend on God to move. For our spiritual necessities the best thing is to have our heads low. Nobody likes to have their heads low but in arrogance. Spiritual leprosy cannot be seen, it is worse than a physical leprosy that can be seen. Spiritual leprosy is more dangerous. Those who live in humbleness always live with their heads low knowing that life is tough and that we cannot waste the greatness of God. The humble cry for mercy, it is ones condition. When we are in need then we come closer to Jesus. Those lepers had faith, they did as Jesus told them to do and went to Jerusalem and went before the priests. Let us believe Jesus because He is powerful to do, let us get closer to Him. This road is not and will never be as we would like or want it to be. As long as we are in God’s will He will perform miracles. Let us walk in God’s will and let us not stagnate because our faith will reward us. The more we believe, the more He will do. Without faith we will not receive our reward. We need God to perform miracles constantly. The ten lepers were healed, but only one returned to thank the Lord for his healing. The priest was the one to declare to the world that the leper was healed. That leper didn't go to the priest but to the one that performed the miracle. Who will love us in our condition of sin? No one. The other nine lepers decided to go to the priests. When we know what we want we know where to go first. It is better to understand that the power comes from God and return to Him and not to men. The power is in Christ our Lord. When we were sinners nobody wanted us, but when we are clean everybody loves us. Let us never give the glory to the men of this earth. When God sees us walking according to his will, then He heals us and delivers us. Let us not offer incense and glory to what is vain, where we are not wanted. Jeremiah 18:15 “…they have burned incense to worthless idols…” “To vanity.” This leper came to Jesus, and fell

down at His feet giving Him thanks, recognizing and giving glory to the powerful God. They all had faith because the ten were healed. All had faith for their healing but only one came back to thank the Lord and he was a Samaritan. Samaritans had no prestige; they were not loved by the Jews. Those who activate their faith learn how to adore God and give Him the glory because He removed our leprosy. The glory is given to the one who performed the miracle, the one who transformed our lives and not to any man in this earth. That man fell at His feet giving Jesus all the glory. How difficult it is for us to adore, but if we understood what He has done for us we would adore him. We must not burn incense to vanity. The other nine men returned to what was vain, to work, to marry, to meet with the priests who never loved them. Although the healing of the nine was confirmed, Jesus told the only leper who was thankful that his faith had saved him. Nine were healed and only one was saved. John 5:14 One who has been healed can return to hatred, to war, to the same sins. For this reason salvation is necessary. The leper remained saved and healed and surely with a future taken care by the Lord. We are healed, but the essence of all this is salvation because the body perishes. We must walk after salvation. In the Old Pact one was prospered by keeping the commandments, but in the grace of the New Testament we didn’t have to pay anything, or do anything because Jesus paid everything for us. If prosperity comes to us it is because God has wanted it. That leper began to prosper in everything with Gods blessing. God takes care of the future of those who are grateful. Let us learn how to kneel before God. There is no reason to return to our past. We must not love what we have left behind. Many times we burn incense for our jobs, our family, but our adoration and incense must be given to God. Those who are healed, saved and thankful are in Gods hand each day of their lives, God will take care of them in the present and in the future. Amen.