The Ten Lepers
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Ten lepers saw the Lord coming and the bible says they lifted up their eyes and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” Here we have mercy being sought. We know that Grace is receiving something that you don’t deserve but Mercy is not receiving something that you do deserve. Just like we ask the judge in court for mercy, the lepers are asking God for it as well. It could have been the repercussions of their lifestyles, we don’t know. But they did lift their eyes long enough to see Jesus and that is Wisdom. When He comes into our lives, depression lifts, diseases are deleted, emotions lift, and darkness is chased away. Even though these men were of a different faith, they recognized Jesus as their Master. (Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.)
Luke 17:14 says, “and when He saw them He said unto them, “go show yourself to the Priests.” Being healed, whether mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually, it takes action and effort. It takes a crying out to Jesus and obedience to Christ. There is a lifting while you are on your way to the Priest or the Minister of God. A true minister of God edifies and uplifts. As a minister, Jesus will send people to you and you best be ready when He does. That’s why He wants us to walk the walk and talk the talk. As a Minister of God myself, I have conditioned myself to listen to Jesus and obey Him and not man. There are also times where my flesh “speaks” to me and I have to determine whether or not it is the flesh or God. The Lord says, “My sheep know my voice.” When hearing manipulative voices in our heads we have to give it to God and listen to Him speak to our hearts. The voices speak to your head. See the difference? You will know it when you experience it. You’d be surprised of the people who try to tell you how you should be handling your ministry. (God’s Business.) And sometimes your own flesh tries to tell you how to handle things! It’s a constant battle between our flesh and our spirit, that is why we must stay prayed up and speak in our spiritual language whenever possible.
People also need to realize that ministers are not hired or personal slaves. Jesus is our boss. Jesus can have you fasting and praying for three days and a friend may get angry with you because you didn’t spend time with them or take them shopping. I serve man as God leads, not every time that man asks. I hope that you do the same. My daughter bought me a car and a few neighbors got upset with me and posted online how a “good” minister should take people to their doctors appointments and shopping. I was shocked! Beware of the Spirit of Control. Those types of people will have you jumping through hoops for them and will talk about you if you don’t cater to their needs. They’ll ask you to do things that they won’t ask their own Pastors or Deacons to do because they respect them. The Pastor gets the tithes and the fried chicken dinners and all that you will get is used. I call those “The other nine” or “The Ungrateful” in the Leper story.
Jesus healed all 10 lepers but only one thought to come back and get on his face and thank the Lord. Jesus saw their ingratitude. He said to the one “the stranger is the only one who returned to give glory to God.” He blessed Him the second time and said, “Didn’t I heal 10? Where are the other 9?” He then proceeded to say, “Arise and go thy way, thy faith hath made thee whole.”
Verse 25 says something profound to us: Jesus must 1st be rejected before He returns. We are there ladies and gentlemen. Our own country almost left Him off of their platform during one of our voting processes. He wasn’t placed back on until we complained about it. What is wrong with that picture? This country was formed on the belief in Jesus Christ and now He’s not good enough to remember?
Keep ministering however and whenever you can. Know that God has your back. If someone will not listen to you…move on. Don’t be upset when you see people dissing Jesus. If He won’t make them accept Him, there is nothing that you can do. God is a Gentleman and will not force Himself on anyone. Don’t you do it either. Move on.
Pray for our Nation. God knows our hearts. He sees it all.
Rev. Esther R. Scott
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Blessings!