their “ leap of faith ,” Jesus provided supernaturally on their behalf .
Furthermore , as we look at these four leprous men in the Bible , the question I am posing to you today is what has caused your leprosy ? What has caused you to be considered an outcast in the eyes of people ? What has caused you to be hindered in your life in some way ? What has caused you to believe that just because you have made mistakes , like all of us have that , that “ leprosy ” or issue has caused you to cease from moving forward ? What has caused you to feel as if you have no hope because life as marked you as “ contagious ’ or “ unclean .” Whatever the case may be , Jesus knows where you are and he is in the business of bringing wholeness and meaning to your life i . e . “ Suddenly a man with leprosy approached Jesus and knelt before him . “ Lord ,” the man said , “ If you are willing , you can heal me and make me clean .” Jesus reached out and touched him . “ I am willing , he said , “ Be healed .” And instantly the leprosy disappeared ( Matthew 8:2 , 3 , NLT ).”
Isn ’ t it very refreshing to know that you have a Heavenly Father that loves you ? You don ’ t have to feel that you are alone and that you are struggling with “ leprosy ” whatever that is representative of ! Many Christians or people in general have decided to disassociate
themselves from many religious organizations today because of the mistakes that they made along the way and they have been made to feel like they were a leper . Instead of people coming to them and embracing them with the love of God because “ God is love ” ( John 3:16 , NLT ), they were met with legalistic , authoritative , dogmatic and power posturing behavior from other Christians or “ people of God .” They were also made to feel that because of their mistakes , they would have to remain in the “ condition that they were in !”
But , “ what is the case with man isn ’ t the case with God ! God doesn ’ t just throw us away because of the mistakes that we have made i . e . the example in the Bible of the “ prodigal son ” ( Luke 15:11-24 , NKJV ). “ Even though the young man left home and spent his inheritance on wild living and found himself broke and homeless , when he “ came to his senses ” and returned home , he was met not with scorning nor with contempt but , with love and acceptance . Not only was he welcomed , but a feast and celebration was prepared for him .” What a powerful example of God ’ s love and openness to embrace us as human beings . He understands that we are imperfect people and that we “ come from the dust ( Genesis 2:7 , Ecclesiastes 3:20 , NLT ).” That is why he sent Jesus to be the atonement
34 HimPower October 2016