Two Perspectives of Grace : Luke 5:12-13 : What Jesus Did! : HEARTLIGHT®

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Two Perspectives of Grace - Luke 5:12-13

One time Jesus was in a town where a very sick man lived. This man was covered with leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed before Jesus and begged him, "Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want." Jesus said, "I want to heal you. Be healed!" Then Jesus touched the man. Immediately the leprosy disappeared. (ERV) Full Text

Key Thought

We see two powerful perspectives on grace in this simple, yet astounding, story. First, we see an awesome faith in Jesus. The man believed Jesus could cure the incurable. He believed Jesus could give him back his life. That awesome faith brought him to Jesus -- face down in the dust, to honor Jesus and to ask for his help. Second, we see the tenderness of Jesus. While the man is cured at the spoken word of Jesus (Remember one of the key themes that runs through several of the recent stories about Jesus is the power and authority of his words!), here the focus is on the touch of Jesus. This touch is not about healing; healing occurs through Jesus' spoken word, but grace comes through the touch of Jesus! Jesus touches a man who was ritually unclean and lets that man know that he is loved even in his diseased and unclean condition. The message for us is clear: we come to Jesus claiming nothing and knowing he is everything. As we offer ourselves to him, we find that he not only gives us what we want, but he also blesses us with what we most need -- personal love and acceptance from our Creator and Lord!

Today's Prayer

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O wonderfully gracious God Almighty, how can I fully fathom your love? You are majestic and limitless and I am finite and fallen. Thank you for reaching out to me with your hand of grace in Jesus and choosing to include me in your grace. In Jesus' name I praise you and thank you. Amen.

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Today's Verses in Context

One time Jesus was in a town where a very sick man lived. This man was covered with leprosy. When the man saw Jesus, he bowed before Jesus and begged him, “Lord, you have the power to heal me if you want.” Jesus said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” Then Jesus touched the man. Immediately the leprosy disappeared. Then Jesus said, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened. But go show yourself to the priest. And offer a gift to God for your healing like Moses commanded. This will show people that you are healed.” But the news about Jesus spread more and more. Many people came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sicknesses. Jesus often went away to other places to be alone so that he could pray.

— Luke Luke 5:12-16 (ERV)

This is how God showed his love to us: God sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. True love is God's love for us, not our love for God. God sent his Son to be the way that God takes away our sins.
1 John 4:9-10 (ERV)

Christ died for us while we were still weak people. We were living against God, but at the right time, Christ died for us. Very few people will die to save the life of another person, even if that other person is a good person. If the person is a very good person, then someone might be willing to die for that person. But Christ died for us while we were still sinners. In that way God showed us that he loves us very much.
Romans 5:6-8 (ERV)

Christ is the head of the body. (The body is the church.) Everything comes from him. And he is the Lord who was raised from death. So in all things Jesus is most important. God was pleased for all of himself to live in Christ. And through Christ, God was happy to bring all things back to himself again--things on earth and things in heaven. God made peace by using Christ's blood (death) on the cross. At one time you were separated from God. You were God's enemies in your minds, because the evil things you did were against God. But now Christ has made you God's friends again. Christ did this by his death while he was in his body. Christ did this so that he could bring you before God. He brings you before God as people who are holy, with no wrong in you, and with nothing that God can judge you guilty of.
Colossians 1:18-22 (ERV)

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HEARTLIGHT^® Magazine is produced by Heartlight, Inc. HEARTLIGHT is a registered service mark of Heartlight, Inc. PO Box 7044, Abilene, TX, USA 79608-7044. Copyright © 1996-2008. Heartlight is supported by Westover Hills Church, Southern Hills Church, and loving Christians from around the world. Scripture quotations are taken from the Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. Used by permission. All rights reserved.