Sunday Morning Series - Having Faith in Your Prayers - Leprosy

Text:  Luke 17:12-18

Chronic conditions wear you down, change your attitude, and re-shape your vision for the future. A common attitude in healing any time something has gone on long term: It's not on me. It's on God.

Those with leprosy were sent away to live in isolation or with others who had the same disease. Some forms are contagious, while others are not. However, a distinction wasn't made between them back then. Leprosy ate away at the body, causing the loss of fingers, arms, toes, legs, etc. Eventually, it destroyed an organ that was necessary to sustain life and the person died.

In this passage, ten lepers came to Jesus for healing. He commanded them to go show themselves to the priests. There was a procedure to follow for those who were cured before they could re-enter society. Scripture tells us that as they went, they were cleansed. The Greek word,"katharizo," is used here and means, "to cleanse,  make clean, purge, purify.

When one of them saw he was healed (Greek word,"iaomai," meaning to cure, heal, make whole), he returned to Jesus and thanked Him. A possibility is they were all not only cleansed but restored to wholeness with missing body parts restored.

It seems Jesus expected the others to come back as well to express their gratitude. How do we get to a place where we are ungrateful?

1.  We FORGET what we have received.

2.  We REGRET what we have received.

3.  We SHOULD GET what we received. (We deserved it.)

4.  We RESENT what others have received.

They could also have been thinking about what they wanted rather than what Jesus wanted.

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If you're visiting in the area or looking for a church home, we invite you to our Sunday Morning Service at 10:00 AM. This coming Sunday is Super Church for the youngsters, which also begins at 10:00 AM. Zoe Christian Fellowship is located at 1111 Easton Rd. (Route 611), in Warrington, PA. We would enjoy meeting our online friends in person!