Posted on by jwlozano

Be the One

In Luke 17, Jesus healed ten men who were suffering from leprosy. What stands out to me is that the healing did not happen immediately. Jesus told them to go, and the Bible says that as they went, they were healed. It took faith for them to start walking before they saw the miracle.

Can you imagine being one of those men? After years of isolation, pain, and rejection, suddenly your skin is restored. Your life is given back to you. Your family, your future, and your freedom are all restored.

Yet out of the ten who were healed, only one came back.

When he realized what Jesus had done, he turned around, ran back, fell at Jesus’ feet, and thanked Him. Jesus noticed. “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:17).

As I read this passage, I found myself asking a simple question. Which one am I?

I want to be the one.

I want to be the one who notices God’s blessings and takes time to thank Him for them. I want to be the one who chooses gratitude instead of complaining. I want to be the one who sees the good in people instead of focusing on their faults. I want to be the one who speaks life, encourages others, and looks for reasons to be thankful.

Our world is full of criticism, negativity, and complaints. It is easy to join the crowd. It is easy to become one of the nine who simply move on to the next thing. But gratitude sets us apart. It changes our perspective and reminds us that every good thing we have is a gift from God.

Today, let’s be the one.

The one who says thank you.

The one who chooses kindness.

The one who sees the good.

The one who gives God the glory.

Because while ten received the miracle, only one returned to worship the Miracle Giver.

Posted on by jwlozano

All You Need

I like to plan. I make a to do list for the month, week, and day. I wish I was more spontaneous but this is how God made me. I don’t like when things pop up in the week that are not on my list already and as a result, sometimes struggle to adapt.

Last week, my son fractured his toe at taekwondo. It was a pretty rough fracture but he is doing ok now. Thank God he doesn’t need his toe to game! But handling all that went with his injury was a lot of stress for me. Not just because it wasn’t on my to do list, but I don’t handle my kids being in pain very well. I probably cried more than he did by the end of it!

But as I was in the middle of everything last week and feeling overwhelmed, this verse came up in our daily scripture calendar. “And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others,” 2 Corinthians 9:8.

I know Jesus told us to ask God for our daily bread, but often I want to know the meals for the whole week. This scripture reminded me that whatever happens, planned or not, God is in control and he’s given us everything we need to handle what each day brings. I was able to encourage my son with this as he was having his toe readjusted and was afraid.

We don’t know what the day will bring but God does and he is faithful to walk with us every step of the way. I think of Shadrach, Meschack, and Abednego in the fiery furnace. God didn’t just yell in to the fire, “You’ll be ok!! Just wait it out!”. He got in the fire with them. And he is with us. It’s who he is. Emmanuel.

Have a wonderful week!