1 of 10.

Luke 17:11-19

Jesus Heals Ten Men With Leprosy

¹¹ Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. ¹² As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance ¹³ and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

¹⁴ When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

¹⁵ One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. ¹⁶He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

¹⁷ Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? ¹⁸ Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

Did you know that one of ten people thank God ? Are you part of that one? I find that i do sometimes get so caught up in things that i forget to thank him. When it's time to talk to him, that's when i thank him. It's similar to an alarm. When i wake up from an alarm i usually press the snooze button so that i can sleep longer. Similar to our walk with God, i get so caught up with the many distractions that when the alarm goes off, i just press snooze so it can wait for later.

This snooze button tells God, "Wait this is more important than you" Do you want God to be like that in your life? He is a patient God but he should always be put as your #1. We often forget to thank him or take things for granted. God is an almighty and amazing God. He should be thanked every step of the way.

Is It Clear?

Matthew 6:22-23

²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Have you ever tried on someone else's glasses? Or taken your own off and it was all blurry?
When we see clearly the whole world is just beautiful but, when we can't it's full of mystery and nothing seems to be clear. Do you look for good or evil? Think about where your soul gets its 'glasses'.

I often stumble on the obstacles that God sets for me and i find that it blurs my vision of him. I start to wonder whether or not he is actually there. (I know it's kinda bad but it's true)
After reading this passage, it taught me to keep my eyes focused on God and not let anything be in the way of the path that he has set up for me.

God of Comfort

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. ⁵ For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. ⁶ If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. ⁷ Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

⁸ For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselvesbut on God who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.¹¹ You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

2 corinthians 1:3-11

Do you ever get that feeling when you feel disgusting, like a monster? When you've indulged in sin, you turned away from God and you've been engulfed by guilt? That feeling, that you're retched, scarred, and just unworthy? That feeling comes up a lot. When we sin, we've failed against God, and like Adam and Eve, we tend to run away after realizing how filthy we are, we try to hide from God.

I felt like that today.

But then when i started to read the devo, this was the scripture reading for the day, and it calmed my heart. God will comfort us in everything, in times of trial, suffering, and pain. And it is for us to be able to spread and spill that comfort into others. I've felt that this week. I've recently made a new friend, or i guess you could say gotten closer to a friend, and i've also felt that i could be more transparent and vulnerable with others lately. Of course i have deeper struggles with whom i share with others, but i've been able to just talk to people about my struggles more. It feels good sometimes, because we're able to help each other out. Sometimes if you take the risk (if you're comfortable) and share with others, you'll never know the response you'll get. For instance, i shared with this friend about university, about a friend who's possibly wasted 7 years of my life (as bad as that sounds), and i was surprised to hear what he had to say, but it was most definitely comforting.

But also reading all this, and reflecting on all this, i was constantly reminded of God's love. Its deeper than the sea, wider than the universe, and its never failing, and everlasting. No matter what you've done to him, run away, stabbed him in the back, fall short of his glory, he still loves you unconditionally. Its amazing to really take that in, and you really will not find anyone else on this earth that can satisfy that, and be that person for you, because its humanly impossible.

God comforts you, share that comfort with others.

7 The Lord is good,
a stronghold in the day of trouble;

nahum 1:7

The Remedy for Fear

Psalm 34:1-10
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Fears. We all have them. They cripple us, take over our minds and swallow us in the contentment of being in control of our lives. When we live in fear, we want to be able to control what is to come, yet that is always unknown. Today, my mom went MIA. We were eating at a restaurant and she just left, running out in a hurry. We allowed her a few minutes to cool off before looking for her, but by that time, she was gone.


An hour later, we received a call, saying she bused home, but when we got home, she wasn't even there. I still have no idea where she is, but I fear that she's doing something stupid. My family situation is so confusing, I don't even know what to think. That's one of my fear. I fear not getting into university. I fear losing the closest friend I have, knowing they don't really care. I fear a lot of things.


But what does fear really tell us about ourselves? It tells us we don't trust God.


"I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." [Psalm 34:4]


When we fear, it means we don't trust God's ultimate plan for our lives. And when we live in fear, Satan has a better chance of grabbing hold of us, telling us lies that will allow us to fall away from God. Yet God, whom is the creator of the universe is the only remedy for fear! When we place all our trust in him, he will work in our lives, protecting us with his power and provision.

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Trust in the Lord is the cure for a fearful spirit. 

seeing what we cannot.

I was totally under the category of what we talked about at church today. A person who lacks confidence, has little faith in Christ and is weak, not realizing His strength and His greater, different, mysterious and perfect ways.

¹³ Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
¹⁴ You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
¹⁵ You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah

¹⁶ When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
¹⁷ The clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
¹⁸ The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
¹⁹ Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.

psalm 77:13-19

1. God is HOLY and his ways are higher/better/different than ours.

We're constantly wanting our way. We fail to give up power, and control of our own lives. We as humans are so scared of the unknown. We dont want to change, we dont want to surrender and let someone take the wheel of our lives. We also have pride in ourselves, we think we're better, we're stronger, we know whats best for us, but the truth is, we really dont. If you have time, reflect on the past few months, years, and see how God has pieced your life together in the most magical, mysterious ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).

2. God's work in the past tells of his work in THE PRESENT and THE FUTURE.

The big pointer here is KNOWING God's work in the past, and the only way to know that is be reading and indulging in the Word. It is the truth. Today our pastor said that should be reading off the word, in PHYSICAL, PRINT form, and im guilty of that. After getting my iphone i've been reading it electronically, and i think i need to change that and start getting back into the habit of reading his word in print. I think its better in many ways, electronically, there are distractions everywhere. But it is by reading his word that one will fully understand just a hint of how God works and see how great he is, for one to put faith into an almighty God.

3. God's work in our lives is MYSTERIOUS but PERFECT.

Our Pastor mentioned today in the passage (Psalms 77) that it talks about nature a lot, and he linked it with God's mysterious ways. Nature is very unpredictable, yet it always works out. If you study science, you start to learn about how crazy and amazing creation is. Although it extremely hard to let go and let God. Remember that his ways are always better. He's overlooking our lives, he's planning it, and he knows whats best and whats better than what you have in mind.

Just Do It.

Luke 15:8-10

⁸ “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn’t she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹ And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’¹⁰ In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

Have you ever lost something and had to look everywhere for it? Maybe it was your phone, keys, or something like that. As you put the things that are important in safe places, think about God. Do you ever lose touch with him? How hard do you search? Are you delighted when you find him?

Look at the stuff that hid the things you value. Where are the things in your life that hide God? What buries the kingdom and makes you forget? Some of those things you can keep, but they will need to be put where they aren't in the what of what really matters.

Maybe some stuff has to go. Some of those decisions are easy, some hard. God may see value in things you thought were worthless, or he may want you to get rid of something you wanted to hoard.

It's tough to forget things when they mean so much but are you willing to do it for God? He has a perfect path set up for you.

A Word from the Lord

1 Samuel 3:1-10
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The first verse caught me by surprise 'cause I felt like sometimes our society is like this too.


"The word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions." [1 Samuel 3:1]


These days, people dream but do people really have visions from God? Even though they might, can we recognize it? In this passage, Samuel couldn't even recognize the Lord's voice! Yet when God calls us, can we recognize his? Will we be able to just drop everything and follow what God is telling us to do if we do recognize it?


After Samuel did listen, he became well-known as someone who lived fearlessly and faithfully. Whenever we listen to the Lord, whether it be reading the bible or through prayer, we must be able to listen to his voice and obey just as Samuel did. Although it may not be obvious like a vision, God will make himself known as he did with Samuel. 

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God speaks through his Word to those who listen with their hearts. 

competition?

³⁷ Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.³⁸ And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

matthew 10:37-38

Whoever loves their OWN FATHER and MOTHER MORE than Christ is not worthy of God. One may ask, why is God so mean, that we cant even love our parents? And it goes on to say even our sons and daughters?

Reading my devotionals today, it put this verse into a different perspective. The overall lesson was competition and priorities. Within your heart, you only have one spot. One reigning spot that rules all. As Christians, Christ should be in that spot. But sin is very tempting sometimes. And there are other things that may fill up that hole. May it be a relationship, or a sexual desire, pride, materialism, or greed, something will fill the hole.

What's in your heart? Is there something competing with Christ for that? I love the last verse, whoever does not take up the cross cannot follow me. We've stated before, being a Christian is hard. Its a commitment. Its like marriage. Life long (but this relationship with God is longer than that). You have to be +100% dedicated to him. Nothing should be competing with Him. He is the creator, he is the king of kings, how is it that the latest apple gadget or yourself can beat that? The one that loves you, gave up His son for you? Why is this even a fight? He should be way up the scale. I dont know my answer either. I dont think i've fully realized the degree of love, and sacrifice the gospel is yet. It hasnt fully hit me yet.

There should be NO competition between Christ and the things of this world. He lasts, worldly things fade.

22 Days.

in 22 days the annual Teen's Conference will be in action at RHCCC.
I can't believe it's that close. I've volunteered to be a captain and it's my first time do take on this role. I don't know what to expect. There are so many different personalities out there and who knows if they'll collide with mine or not.

I've been attending training since November 5th. It's been preping me for those 4 days to come. The reason why i wanted to captain is because that my captains have showed me how to love others and i want to show that to others.

Today, we had a concert of prayer and to be honest i didn't know what it really was. I walked in not knowing anything about it and once it was over, i was amazed. I realized that God was there for me. Although there i'm stressed and worried he's still there.

It hit me hard when the coaches were telling us about how it's 22 days away. I will have to lead 30 gr 8-10s for 2 days. Then another 30 gr 10-12s. All in 4 days. Today i felt God taking all these burdens off my back. It's such an amazing feeling that i can't explain.

Invite Questions

Exodus 12:1-13
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When I first read this passage, and then looked at the devotion title, I was really confused about how they connected, but after reading, I understood perfectly and chuckled. My current second period class is peer tutoring, and we're supposed to learn how to tutor grade nine kids effectively. Obviously a lot of things people think are common sense, but there are a lot of techniques that most people think are redundant but actually work.


One of these is questioning. There are open-ended, and closed-ended questions, and both have their advantages and disadvantages in helping your students in different situation. Here in this passage, God's purpose of the passover was to remind them of God's deliverance, and have the children of the Israelites to question the purpose of it.


This in turn, allows the parents to explain the passover, their faith and how God delivered them out of Egypt! What a teaching tool, eh? When one asks questions, it means they are interested in the subject, and we should always be open about answering them. (: Some questions can have a really huge impact one someone, such as "Why do you believe in God?"

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Honest questions can lead to faith-building answers.