“And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.” Luke 17:15-16 NKJV

Don’t ride on “E”–empty. We must know when it is time to be full of faith and gratitude. Jesus often asks us to do something that requires faith. When Jesus responds to our faith, we must not forget to honor the Lord with gratitude. That’s what the ten lepers did who cried out to Jesus for healing.

• Luke 17:11-19 New King James Version –¹¹ Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. ¹² Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. ¹³ And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” ¹⁴ So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. ¹⁵ And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, ¹⁶ and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. ¹⁷ So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? ¹⁸ Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” ¹⁹ And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

Only one of the ten lepers healed returned to thank Jesus and give Him glory. Nobody owes us anything. Jesus didn’t have to heal the lepers. But they could have at least said thank you–not just one, but all of them. When was the last time we thanked God for saving us from that car accident, or that illness, or that dangerous situation? Everyone does not make it out of those situations alive. We must learn to be grateful for everything the LORD has done.

One thing we should always be thankful for is salvation. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for our sins. That is the greatest gift we could ever receive.

• Romans 6:23 New King James Version – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
• Hebrews 12:28 English Standard Version – Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe,

No matter how dark our situation is, whether it is the death of a loved one or a personal tragedy, God calls us to give thanks. This is the will of God.

• 1 Thessalonians 5:18 New King James Version – in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We must learn to be thankful for everything. Food, clothing, shelter and the basic necessities of life, which many of us enjoy, are all things we should be grateful for. An attitude of gratitude will change our altitude.

God elevates the grateful. Notice the leper who returned to give thanks received not just healing, but wholeness. The grateful leper was made whole.

Our attitude should be good because of WHO we have–the LORD Jesus–and not what we have.

What are hindrances to being committed? Two major hindrances are:

• Excuses
• Fear

We can make excuses for why we don’t commit. Examples of excuses are lack of time, money, the flesh, inconvenience and distractions. These are all justifications as to why we don’t commit. But we can overcome every objection and become steadfast in Christ Jesus.

God is warning us to stay committed to Him. Lack of commitment has consequences in the kingdom of God. We need to take heed when God warns us. Consider Noah.

• Hebrews 11:7 New King James Version – By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

God warned the head of the family–Noah–so Noah could warn the others. God wants us to warn others too. Watch for opportunities to point people to Jesus. The world measures success by money, fame, status, education and material things. But God measures success by obedience.

We must learn how to obey even when we are afraid. Noah MOVED with godly fear. Some people don’t want to fully commit. If we partially commit, that means we are not committed. To fully commit we have to depend on God. Full commitment means walking by faith and not by sight.

• John 6: 63-66 New King James Version –  ⁶³ It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. ⁶⁴ But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. ⁶⁵ And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.” ⁶⁶ From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. ⁶⁷ Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

We can’t be so committed to pleasing people that we don’t please God. It is better to please God rather than man.

• Hebrews 11:6 New King James Version –  But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

We have to stay committed even when things get hard.

• 2 Timothy 2:3-5 New King James Version – ³ You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ⁴ No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. ⁵ And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

When things don’t go the way we thought, do we go back? Do we go back to what we know, back to what is familiar or back to what God has delivered us from? Our souls are on the line. Our souls must commit to following Christ to be saved.

We must be able to overcome the Four T’s in order to stay committed…

1. Tests (from the LORD)
2. Temptations (from the devil)
3. Tribulations (from the world)
4. Trials

We have everything we need in CHRIST JESUS to pass every obstacle that comes our way.

• 2 Peter 1:2-3 New King James Version – ² Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

God’s Word is a seed that is programmed to produce godliness. All we need to do is receive the seed of the Word of God and nurture it by obeying the Word.

• John 5:19 New King James Version – ¹⁹ Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6

To please God, we have to have faith in God AND operate on that faith. Faith is believing even without seeing.

• John 20:26 New King James Version – ²⁶ And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” ²⁷ Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” ²⁸ And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” ²⁹ Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

We can’t let anyone or anything move us from our faith in Christ Jesus. When Jesus becomes real to us, we will not be shaken in our faith. Jesus loves us so much He meets us where we are–even if we have little or no faith. We need to do the same for others. We are all at varying levels of faith.

• John 1:1-3 New King James Version – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

We don’t have to be able to explain God, to know that HE is real. God EXISTS.

• Romans 1:19-20 Living Bible – ¹⁹ For the truth about God is known to them instinctively; God has put this knowledge in their hearts. ²⁰ Since earliest times men have seen the earth and sky and all God made, and have known of his existence and great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God at Judgment Day.

Jesus is always with us. Sometimes God talks to us and we don’t acknowledge Him.

• 1 Timothy 3:16 New King James Version – And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

We can’t see God, but we can feel God. We can’t see God, but He is real. God wants us to love Him for who He is. God wants us place to stay, and that place is in our hearts.

• John 14:17 New King James Version –  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

• Romans 10:9-10 New King James Version – ⁹ that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

When we face real situations, we need to turn it over to our real God, and get some real results from the only One who can really solve problems.