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Luke 17 11-19 Surrender, Thankfulness, Gratitude and Worship of God 01 Here for His purpose
📖 Luke 17:11-19
25Jul2020 - *Here for His purpose* - _Luke 17:11-19_ - THANKFULNESS AND GRATITUDE TO GOD 1 – Bible reading: _Luke 18:31-34_
We have completed the study of being an unprofitable Doulos of Jesus Christ. We now enter a new study of _Luke 17:11-19_, which we will title as *Thankfulness and Gratitude to God*.
The story of the ten lepers, who were healed and one of them returning to give thanks to Jesus, is well known to us.
We carry forward from the previous study this overwhelming understanding of who we are, the unprofitable Doulos of Jesus. We are not our own, we are purchased at a price. We belong entirely to Jesus and we are at His disposal and use. Have you come to this place in your life?
_Mark 8:35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it._
We are here to lose our life for Jesus and the gospel. Is that how life is for you? Many of us are actually living for ourselves, for our own betterment in life, for our own safety and security and then, along the way, we try to fit into our schedule our involvement with the work of the gospel. Will you be able to say that this is not the case with you but _Mark 8:35_ is true in your life?
_Luke 17:11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee._
Jesus came to fulfil one purpose. _Matthew 20:28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Luke 19:10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Colossians 1:20 and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross._
The cross was pivotal and inviolable for Jesus to complete His work for which He came on the earth. To complete His work on the cross, Jesus had to go to Jerusalem. _Luke 9:51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,_
God has a purpose for each of us. Our purpose is to reconcile a specific audience of people along with their socio-cultural setting, to God. Do you know your purpose? We are here on earth to fulfil and complete the purpose that God has designed for us. He has also designed us to be specifically suited to meet the need of the audience to whom He has assigned us.
We can’t live our life to achieve our own crafted objectives but to receive and accomplish God’s purpose for us.
If the organisation that I work for, sends me out on duty then my task is to complete the objective for which the organisation has sent me. We all know this very well. If I were to go out and get busy getting my own personal work done when I was sent on a task given to me by the organisation, how will my organisation treat me? Will I be excused?
We have been sent by God into this world to complete His purpose but we are neck-deep, achieving our own goals in life. We then have the audacity to expect our Master to overlook what we are up to and instead we cry and plead with Him to bless us in all of our own pursuits in life.
Jesus was focussed on the cross and Jerusalem. _Matthew 16:21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day._
_Matthew 20:17-19 Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, (18) "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, (19) and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again."_
_Luke 18:31-34 Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. (32) For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. (33) They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again." (34) But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken._
The disciples were made to be fully knowledgeable of the purpose of Jesus. They did not understand what He was saying at that time and sadly they did not seek to know. It was only after His resurrection and after the baptism of the Holy Spirit that they not only knew His purpose but each of them also fulfilled each of their purpose in life.
We have the gospel today in all of our nations because the disciples fulfilled their God-given purpose in life. In fulfilling their God-given purpose they lost their lives but gained everything, thereby fulfilling _Mark 8:35_
*Thought to ponder*
```What answer will we give the Master on the day of reckoning? Let’s not forget that we are the unprofitable Doulos of Jesus Christ```