Hard Questions/Gentle Love
“One of them, a Samaritan, when he discovered that he was completely healed, turned back to find Jesus, shouting out joyous praises and glorifying God. When he found Jesus, he fell down at his feet and thanked him over and over, saying to him, “You are the Messiah.”
“So where are the other nine?” Jesus asked. “Weren’t there ten who were healed? They all refused to return to give thanks and give glory to God except you, a foreigner from Samaria?”
Then Jesus said to the healed man lying at his feet, “Arise and go. It was your faith that brought you salvation and made you whole.” Luke 17
When this man realized he was healed he began to shout out praises as he turned back looking for Jesus. Our encounters with Jesus should produce an outward display of worship. Can you imagine what people were thinking when they saw him shouting out praises? A Samaritan. He obviously did not care what others thought.
Jesus, help us get to this place of an outward display of praises because of who You are.
He fell down at the feet of Jesus full of thanksgiving declaring YOU ARE THE MESSIAH! The reality of this in our lives is overwhelming in a beautiful way. Take a moment to just ponder this truth. You and I have the Messiah, the King of Kings, Lord of Lord, most powerful of all who invites us with an open invitation to His feet. Anytime and for any reason we get to be at the feet of a King. If I’m honest, I have taken that for granted. What about you?
Maybe the reason we don’t realize the incredible gift of grace and mercy we have is because of the questions that come when we are at His feet. Jesus’ response to the man at first was with questions. When we get to the feet of Jesus He will ask us questions. Hard questions but in a gentle way. My experience in this last year has been just that. As I have surrendered to His questions I am finding the tangible gentleness of His love for me. Every time I go back to His feet, He will have another question. They are getting easier because now I know the gentleness that comes with them.
You and I decide how far we allow Him to go into our hearts. The heart is like a house. Houses have many doors and so it is with your heart. Most people let Jesus in the front door which represents salvation but never allow Him to explore the house. The first step to wholeness is being honest with Him about what is going on inside your house.
Jesus responds to this man, “Arise and go. It was your faith that saved you and made you whole.” This word whole is sozo. This is more than salvation. It includes healing of mind, body and spirit. The restoration of who you are originally designed to be before the shadows and residue of our past. Do you believe Jesus can make you whole?
This is our part. You must have faith and keep showing up to His feet to surrender to His radiant light. This light exposes all the shadows and residue in the form of questions. Give Him permission to speak to those areas. His voice and presence are the most valuable things on earth. If you want to be whole surrender to His gentle love.
