Read Luke 17
In Luke 17 Jesus
continues to prepare His disciples for His coming departure. First, He briefly
highlights four concepts. We are to guard ourselves against becoming stumbling
blocks to others (v 1-2). We are warned to guard against sin and extend
forgiveness to people (v 3-4). We are reminded that although our faith may seem
very small, it can still be big enough to accomplish great things (v 5-6). Finally,
we are reminded of the importance of serving God (v 7-10). The story continues
with Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. Here we see Jesus healing ten lepers. It
is noted that only one turns back to praise God for the miracle (v 11-19). The
chapter concludes with Jesus teaching about His Second Coming (v 20-37). Jesus
put a great deal of effort into preparing His followers for His departure, both
through prophetic teaching and intentionally training them in righteousness. People
spend their time and energy on what is most important to them. It is clearly
Jesus’ highest priority that those who follow Him would remain steadfast to the
end.
Journaling and Prayer
1. Forgiveness
is extremely important in the Christian walk (v 3-4). Is there anyone you need
to forgive? If so go through the following steps:
a. Choose
forgiveness. Forgiveness is first a choice. Often the feelings don’t follow for
a while (especially if the offense was severe). Tell God that you want to
forgive this person and ask for His help in doing this.
b. Pray
for this person. You can ask God how to pray or you can simply pray over them
what you would like prayed over yourself.
c. Bless
this person. Again, you can simply bless this person how you would like to be
blessed or you can ask God to give you a specific idea.
2. What
are some lessons that come from the story of the ten lepers? Ask God what He
wants to teach you personally through it.
3. Pray
for our media. Specifically, ask God to raise up many Christians in news media
who are willing to speak honestly about events in the world. As Jesus’ return
draws nearer deception will increase (v 20-23). Ask that God would call people
in media to boldly share the truth about events. Pray also for the church that
we would grow in discernment while we are studying world events. Pray that we would not be swayed by ungodly
news media.
