GRATITUDE TO GOD THROUGH HIS CHANNELS . DORCAS: Yes. Jesus told the man, whom he cleansed from leprosy, to give a speechless testimony. The man should not tell anybody except the priest what God has done for him, and yet he should offer a gift as testimony – That was a speechless testimony, which includes telling only the pastor the goodnews and offering a gift as testimony offering. As it is written, “And Jesus said to him, “See you tell no man; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them” (Matthew 8:4). . LOVINA: The leper you speak about was the one who came back in gratitude among the ten lepers that were cleansed, isn’t it? . DORCAS: Not really. To understand better, there were two instances in which Jesus both cleansed lepers and asked them to show themselves to the priest. One is in Luke 5:14 while the other is in Luke 17:14. Both are in verses 14, but different chapters. . 1. In Luke 5:14, Jesus first cleansed the leper before He asked him to go show himself to the priest and offer the speechless testimony as I described above. 2. In Luke 17:14, Jesus first asked the ten lepers to go show themselves to the priest before they were cleansed on the way; however, the person to receive the gratitude was Jesus besides the priest. So ten were cleansed but only one, who was a Samaritan amongst them, returned to give the testimony in gratitude to Jesus Christ. . What the first leper did first was what the Samaritan Leper did last; and vice versa. Both of them fell at Jesus’ feet to glorify God and express gratitude, and both of them were asked to go show themselves to the priest. . LOVINA: But no record that any of them actually met the priest as contemplated, so Jesus stood in for the priest as well. . DORCAS: The point is that, in gratitude to God, a man in the flesh must stand in for God and that man then acts as priest to you (even if he is not ordained priest), so that while you glorify the invisible God, a visible man stands in between to receive the thanksgiving or testimony gifts as priest of God within that respect. However, it is preferable we go to the man who was instrumental when God did it for you. . If God did it through that man, return thanks to God through that man also: If the gift came down from heaven through a channel, send your gift back to heaven through the same channel. This is gratitude. . LOVINA: In that case, I see no reason of meeting the official priest or church pastor, unless he was instrumental in bringing that miracle or blessing to you. . DORCAS: Do not say that. A pastor or priest of a church may not give you money, car or any noticeable gift; but a single word from his mouth matters much, especially if that pastor or priest is anointed by God. The greatest gift you can receive from a man is the word of God or word which God approves. They hold the keys of the Kingdom of God. . Jesus is the door to the Father, but keys are in the hands of His ministers here on earth. . I give you two instances of how a simple word from an anointed minister of God change the condition of a man or woman; and the man or woman had to return back to the anointed minister to express gratitude to God through him and to give gift to the minister. . 1. Jesus healed the ten lepers as we saw already. A simple word from Jesus in form of instruction did what no doctor or physician could have done for the ten lepers. Jesus did not pray for them or laid hands on them, but just gave then an instruction; and as they obeyed that instruction, they were healed. However, only one returned to Jesus and expressed gratitude to Him; and in so doing, Jesus gave that one another powerful word which was enforced by the gift He had received from him, saying to Him, “God your faith has made you whole” (Luke 17:12-19). . Thus, the ten lepers each received the first anointed word, “Go” – Go show yourselves to the priest – which healed them. But only one of them received the second anointed word, “Go” – Go your faith has made you whole. . 2. Hannah prayed and fasted and made vows to have a child of God, but it was the simple word from the Priest that opened the door for Hannah who was knocking at the door for so long. . Before then, the priest ‘seemed to have judged her or accused her wrongly’ while she was praying. The priest accused her of drunkenness, which meant the priest was insulting her prayer as display of drunkenness. Do you know how it feels for a woman with such burden and fervency in prayer to receive such statement from a man of God? It is like a great form of discouragement for a minister of God to say such thing to one who was in intimate and deep hearted prayer coupled with sorrow of heart to God. However, Hannah was not offended against the man of God for judging her wrongly or speaking such thing about her in the moment of one of her deepest prayer to God. Rather, Hannah called the priest, “My Lord,” and humbly explained herself to the priest. Therefore, the priest gave her the word that changed everything, saying to her, “Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant you your petition that you have asked of him.” Then she replied to the priest, “Let your handmaid find grace in your sight.” . Consider such level of humility and spirituality of this woman, Hannah, in faith. It was the priest who cut her prayer short or concluded her prayer, and she believed what the priest said and did not pray again concerning that subject matter because she believed the priest. Infact, after the priest said those words, “Go…” she went and ate food. (1 Samuel 1:10-19). . Hannah returned to the priest to give testimony in gratitude and offered the gift she would give to God to the priest, which is giving the child to God as she vowed (1 Samuel 1:24-28). Then the priest also gave her the second anointed word for her gift to the LORD. As it is written, “And Eli blessed Elkanah and his wife, and said, “The LORD give you seed of this woman for the loan which is lent to the LORD.” And they went to their own home. And the LORD visited Hannah, so that she conceived, and bare three sons and two daughters. And the child Samuel grew before the LORD.” (1 Samuel 2:20-21)
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 21:06:45 +0000
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